Fear In Our Eyes
by SmoothLadyCriminal
Summary: An unexpected blast from the past has Ana do something that could cost her not only her relationship with Juice, but with SAMCRO as a whole. When Juice is released from prison, he makes it his mission to find out what the hell happened to the woman he loves. (Follow up to Captivated)
1. Chapter 1

**_"Charming is a special town. Not many folks take to it. I like to think the town chooses its occupants. The right ones stay…wrong ones disappear." _**

* * *

><p>"Just seven more months, baby," Ana said, holding Juice's hand as they sat in the visitation room.<p>

The sentence had flown by in some ways, dragged by in others. Ana had finished moving Juice's things into her place a few weeks ago, and she had passed the time by making new paintings for everyone's places. Gemma had a new one for her kitchen, and Tara's baby had a motorcycle painting identical to the one she'd made for Abel almost three years ago.

"I know," Juice said, squeezing her hand. "I can't wait to go home. Get our life started. I don't plan on being back here again."

"Good," Ana replied. "Because this place sucks."

It did. They could only hold hands, and were only allowed a kiss and a hug hello and goodbye. Ana missed Juice's kisses, she missed his hands on her body, and she missed the sex like crazy. Most of all, she just missed him. Feeling his arms around her as she woke up in the morning, and listening to him sing along to Stevie Wonder as he cooked breakfast. The prison sentence was halfway done, she just needed to hold on for seven more months, and she would have all of that.

She had letters from him in a shoebox under the bed, some were sweet, some were hot and steamy (and a little embarrassing being that the guards read them before they were sent out), but all of them were cherished, and she'd keep them even after he was out.

"Oh, I have something for Jax," she said. "Since he missed the birth of his kid and all."

Keeping her eye on the guard, she reached just under her shirt and pulled something from her shoulder. She slid it over into Juice's hand, and he looked at her questioningly.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's a picture of Thomas. I drew it for him, so he would know how cute the baby is. No thanks to him, of course," she said, grinning as Juice laughed.

Juice couldn't believe she'd done that for Jax, but then again, he could. . Ana was just like that. She did so much for everyone, and was so smart about not getting caught. If she was a man, she'd be high up in the club by now.

"He's going to love it," Juice said. "How did I get so lucky to get a kick ass Old Lady?"

"God loves you, I guess," Ana replied, brushing off her shoulders with a grin. "I got some new clothes the other day," she added with a sly smile on her face. "Some of it's going to wait until you get out, though."

"Oh, really?" he asked, raising his eyebrow as a sexy grin spread across his face. "You want to tell me what you got?"

"Some new dresses, and shoes," Ana said, with a teasing smile playing on her lips. "Oh and a lot, and I mean a lot, of black and purple lingerie."

"Lace?" Juice asked, closing his eyes and remembering the first time they had sex, and how he'd literally ripped her panties off of her.

"A few pieces, but if you rip through those, I'll have to kick your ass," she said. He laughed, and squeezed her hand again.

"No promises, babes. Hell, I might like the ass kicking, so I may just take that risk," he said, looking at the guard. The guard was looking away so he kissed her hand quickly. "I hate not being able to kiss you whenever I want."

"Trust me, I hate it, too," Ana said, tracing circles on his hands as the intercom announced the end of visitation.

They stood up and Ana stepped into Juice's arms quickly. She kissed him as lovingly as she could, and he returned it hungrily until a guard snapped for them to cut it out.

"I love you," he said as the guard put the cuffs back on him.

"I love you, too," she said. He winked before he was led out, and, sighing sadly, Ana left the prison, feeling, as she always did when she visited this place, that the time always ended too soon.

* * *

><p>Juice returned to the rec room where the rest of the club was watching TV. He sat next to Happy and grabbed the book he'd been reading before visitation.<p>

"Everything okay?" Happy asked, his eyes narrowed in disgust at the talk show the prison had playing.

"Yeah," Juice said. "Shit sucks, though. I'm glad she's sticking around, but sometimes visitation makes things harder."

"Yeah, things like your dick," Jax piped in. He was playing cards with Bobby and Tig. Clay was in the library with Otto today.

"You know, Jax, I do care about more than sex with my Old Lady," Juice shot back.

"I do, too," Jax replied. "And I know you care about Ana a lot. I was just trying to lighten the mood. Shit, I missed my kid's birth. Both times."

Juice felt like shit. Of course Jax was having a harder time. He had two kids at home who needed him. He hadn't even seen his new son yet, they were coming when the kid was cleared to be around people. That reminded him of the picture in his pocket and Juice checked to see if the guard was watching.

As if on cue, the guard walked to get a coffee refill.

"Hey, Jax," Juice said, reaching in his shirt pocket and pulling out the scrap of paper. "Ana's got a present for you."

He handed it over to the VP, and Jax opened it to reveal a portrait of the baby's face.

"That's my son," Jax said, his eyes full of love and adoration. "She did this at the hospital?"

"Yeah, man," Juice said as Jax tucked the paper in his pocket. "She tucked it underneath her bra strap to get it in, though, but she though you'd like to have that. She said the baby's cute, no thanks to you."

"Fucking smart ass Lewis," Tig said, with admiration this time instead of malice. Her bailing him out of jail had him warmed up to her a lot. "I'm jealous of you assholes. You guys have women waiting for you. Good, hot women, and fucking families. All we got is crow eaters and porn pussy."

"What's wrong with that?" Bobby and Happy asked in unison. Jax laughed, and even Juice cracked a smile as he went on with reading his book.

Just seven more months.

* * *

><p>Ana drove through Main Street, noticing the new black uniforms strolling by near the police station. San Joaquin Sheriffs had taken over Charming PD this week, and so far, the town didn't trust them much. Ana didn't either. She'd met Lieutenant Roosevelt, and he seemed like a nice enough guy, even if he did have a smug demeanor, but the others just gave her the creeps.<p>

Shaking her head, she drove on to her house, not knowing that after today, life was going to take a sharp turn.

* * *

><p>Ana smiled a few hours later, having just finished her painting for the Mayor. He was willing to pay her for her time, and she couldn't turn him down, even if he'd gotten her fired from the school. She mainly agreed because she needed something to take her mind off the emptiness of her house.<p>

The school had asked her to consider coming back, but Ana couldn't bring herself to say yes. While she loved teaching, she didn't like having to defend herself to people for things she had no business trying to defend to begin with. She was Juice Ortiz's Old Lady, and even if the school board wanted her back, she knew that would always hang over her head.

There was a knock at the door as she washed her hands. Expecting it to be Gemma or maybe Opie, Ana dried her hands on her jeans as she went to answer it.

However, it wasn't either of them. Ana froze for a moment when she saw who it was, and her heart dropped to her stomach.

"You-you're dead!" she cried, putting her hands to her mouth.

Gavin Corcoran was standing on her front porch in a police uniform, and he rolled his eyes with an evil smirk.

"I guess my brother didn't let his little slut know much about his family life, huh?" he said icily.

Brother? Ana didn't understand, so she just shook her head, her dread turning into anger.

"I'm Gavin's twin brother. Mark. And we should have a chat," he said.

"No, we don't," Ana said, trying to shut the door. Mark stopped it with his foot, and raised his eyebrow.

"We can either do this the easy way, or I can take you in for refusing to cooperate with me," he said. "Sure, most cops aren't corrupt, but I have zero problems with the lack of morals and ethics. Something you and I seem to have in common."

"Fuck you," Ana said, glaring. "If this is about LA, your mother already said enough-"

"No. I didn't get to have my say, sweetie," Mark said. "May I come in?"

Ana wanted so badly to say no, get the fuck away, but he had a gun and a badge, and she had a record. It was his word against hers if he wanted to play dirty, so, reluctantly, she stood back and allowed him inside her house.

He looked around and tsked a bit before sitting on the couch.

"Nice setup you have here. Nice life. You've done pretty well since whoring it up in LA, haven't you?" Mark asked icily.

"I never whored it up with anyone, you bastard," Ana shot back. "Your brother was the one who led me on for five fucking years. I never once thought he was married."

"Lie all you want to, you can't expect me to believe that for five years, you never suspected a thing," Mark replied nonchalantly.

"I was happy to be away from my fucking father, so no, I didn't suspect anything. I believed him when he said he had business trips, and I believed him when he said he loved me," Ana cried, angrily. "I came here to get away from that past, and now you're going to show and make me relive it?"

"It wasn't by choice, believe me you little slut," Mark said, standing up. "I was transferred here to help clean up this shithole town. Then I find out you're here. And not only that, you've turned into a biker whore and your man is in prison as we speak."

"He has nothing to do with this," Ana said darkly. How dare this pretentious asshole walk into her house and bring up Juice. She wanted so badly to put two bullets in his chest now, but she knew she had to control herself. All killing him would do is put her in jail, and he wasn't worth that.

Mark seemed to read her mind and chuckled again. The sound of it made her skin crawl, and she instinctively crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Oh, he does. See, you've got one of two choices," Mark said. "One, you stay, and I use the entire time I'm here to make your life hell, starting with making loverboy's prison sentence longer. I know how to trump up a charge, after all. Or two, you get the fuck out of this town and never come back. You ruined my brother's name, and you think you shouldn't have to relive it? No, I hope it haunts you for the rest of your pathetic life."

"I don't give a shit about your brother's name," Ana said, losing her shit. "And I'm not leaving. I'm stronger than the person I was in LA. You can try, but I doubt you'll get far with the club's prison sentence. They've been the model of good behavior."

Mark stood up and gave her a wicked sneer.

"Have it your way," he said, slamming the door on his way out.

Ana sunk onto the couch, her knees shaking with fear and anger. She knew the logical thing to do would be to go to the club with this, but she didn't want to put her past life on them. She knew Mark couldn't do much, and she was not going to let him get to her. His brother had nearly destroyed her. She wasn't giving another Corcoran that power ever again.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Oh yeah, I've made a new OC, and he's got a huge role to play. Also, expect Juice's sister to show up later as well. <strong>_

_**This is where we're going away from Juice's canon in SOA. There's still going to be angst, but nothing like he went through is the show.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Three months went by, and Ana hadn't heard anything else from Mark Corcoran. She kept their exchange to herself, because she didn't want the club getting into a beef with a police officer with over half the members inside, already.

It wasn't that Ana was afraid of Mark. He didn't make her fear for her safety, but she was scared about how he'd take his anger towards her out on the club. The club was her family now, and all she wanted was for them to be safe. She didn't know exactly what that asshole had planned, but she'd tried her best to avoid him whenever possible. She tried to stay away from the police station for the most part. She kept a hat and glasses on when she was in public. If she could just hang on until Juice was out, then she'd be okay.

Ana also passed the time by watching Thomas and Abel whenever Gemma couldn't, and she actually had a blast with them. Abel would do finger painting as Ana would feed Thomas, and he would ask questions about her pretty pictures. Ana couldn't believe he was almost three years old. He was full of giggles and smiles, and her days were considerably brightened when the kids were around.

She began thinking about having kids of her own. She was almost twenty eight, and knew that if she wanted kids, it was going to have to happen sometime soon. On the other hand, she didn't know what Juice wanted. She wanted a couple years with him, without the prison shit between them, before they got into that domestic mess. All she really wanted was him. Everything else would just be a welcome bonus.

* * *

><p>Juice was in trouble.<p>

He'd been in the yard, minding his own business, when the guards suddenly took him down and cuffed him immediately. They took him to a room where lawyers normally met with their clients, but instead of the lawyer, it was two more guards and the warden, and they were holding an evidence bag with a familiar looking object inside of it. Somehow, he'd ended up with a shiv in his matress, and now he was cut off from everyone. In the hole, as they said. No, they didn't know when he was getting out. No, they didn't want him asking anymore questions.

This was bad. This meant he could be serving more time, and that was the very thing he was trying not to do. He tried to think of anything he'd said or done to anyone that made this happen, but he was coming up blank. His best guess was the club pissed someone off outside, and this was someone sending a message.

Juice sighed as he began reliving the memories of Ana again. That was the only thing that was going to make his time in here go by faster.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Ana was in shock as she drove home from the garage. Juice was in solitary after they found a shiv in his cell. Jax had no idea how it got there, he'd told her on the phone. Juice had been keeping his head down and staying off the radar. He asked how club relations were on the outside, and she said to the best of her knowledge they were good.<p>

Ana seethed as she came to a stop sign. She knew this wasn't a club matter. This was personal. This was Mark showing how big his dick was, and she was about to call him on it. So, instead of turning on her street, she decided to head straight for the police station. She pulled in and walked with determination to the door, and saw Mark coming out.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite homewrecker," he said with a grin. "I've been expecting you."

"So it was you who had that bullshit with Juice arranged," she said angrily, following him inside, to his office. He closed the door and snickered at her angry state.

"Well, Gavin was right, you aren't as stupid as you seem," Mark said, sitting down and gesturing for her to do the same.

"I've never been stupid," Ana said with pride, still standing. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I told you, Ana. I don't want you in this town. And if that means framing every SAMCRO member to get you to see that, I'll do it. And once I finish the ones inside, I'll start working on the ones outside. Then their girlfriends and wives, too," Mark said, shrugging. "And it'll be your fault, because you're too stubborn to do what you're told."

"Fuck you," Ana said, feeling the fear and anxiety rising up in her. "You're one evil bastard."

"Now, that's hardly fair," Mark said with a fake pout. "I'll tell you what. I'll get the shiv thing erased from loverboy's record, and he'll be out with the rest of his leather-wearing cocksuckers as scheduled."

Ana glared.

"But?" she prompted, knowing there was going to be a catch.

"You are smart!" Mark said, clapping gleefully. Ana wanted to scratch his eyeballs out as he did. "You have to disappear. I'm giving you a week, Ana. Get the hell out of Charming and don't come back, or I swear on my brother's grave, I will make it my mission to put every person associated with the Sons of Anarchy behind bars. Every man and woman, and yes, that means your pretty little ass, too."

They stared at each other. Ana with a hateful glare, and Mark with a gleeful sneer.

"Now get out," he finally said. "I'm bored with your presence."

Ana turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, making sure to slam the door on the way out. She waited until she got into her car to break down.

She knew Mark wasn't playing around, now. He was put for blood, hers in particular. Gavin had been married to a daughter of someone very important, like a senator or something. Ana didn't ever get the full details of that. When it became knowledge that Gavin had been having an affair, his wife and her family threw the Corcorans under the bus and dragged their name through the mud. It seemed they were going to blame Ana for that, rather than the man who was playing two girls at once. Now Ana was paying for another's man's mistakes, again. And this time it was going to cost her everything if she didn't do what Mark asked. It was going to cost her everything no matter what she chose.

Crying, she turned the key and headed to her house. She knew what she had to do.

* * *

><p><em><strong>So this is a short chapter, but it was actually split from the next.<strong>_

_**Yes, Mark is an asshole. I've pretty much switched him with Eli Roosevelt, as far as vindictive dickwads go.**_

_**Oh, and for those curious on what Gavin/Mark looks like? Ryan Guzman. Which proves that just because a man is hot doesn't mean he's going to be a good guy.**_


	3. Chapter 3

Gemma showed up at the office two days later, irate that Ana hadn't been by to open up. She hadn't been herself the day before, withdrawn and sad, but Gemma just attributed that to the girl's depression. She knew Ana was prone to bad days, and it seemed as if today was going to be worse than yesterday.

Still, that was no excuse to slack on work. Gemma walked in, getting ready to call Ana, when she saw an envelope with her name on it...in Ana's handwriting, no less.

She opened it, and began to read the letter, becoming more shocked with every word.

_Gemma,_

_Don't hate me. I need to leave Charming, and I need to do it now. It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but someone from my past has tracked me here, and he's in a position to hurt the club. He's done it already with Juice, and the best thing, no, the only thing for me to do is to leave so he can't fuck up your lives anymore than it already is. __Tell everyone I love them, and I'm so thankful that for a short while, I was at least part of a family that loved and respected me. And I'm so sorry I'm leaving without saying goodbye._

_I'm writing Juice a letter as well. He's going to need you, because I know this is going to hurt him, and it's going to hurt him bad. And I hate myself for doing it to him. I just don't have a choice. I won't let people from my past hurt you guys because of the mistakes I've made. So no matter how much you may hate me right now, I hate myself even more. _

_The money Jax gave me is in Juice's dorm. Under the bed. I can't take it._

_Juice can have my house when he gets out. He can do whatever with it, but I'm not wanting anyone else to live there. _

_I'm so sorry Gemma, and I love you._

_Ana_

"Oh, shit," Gemma said, grabbing the phone. She called Ana's house. No answer. She tried her cell. No answer.

"Chibs!" Gemma cried out, running into the garage. "Keep an eye on things, I need to go somewhere."

"Everything okay?" Chibs asked, concerned with how distressed Gemma looked.

"No," Gemma said, handing the letter to him before she left. "Everything is not okay."

* * *

><p>Juice looked up, confused as a guard opened the door. He'd been in solitary confinement for five days now. He had a feeling this wasn't going to be good news.<p>

He was wrong.

"Come on, Ortiz," he said. "You're going back to GP."

"What? What about my hearing?" Juice asked as the guard cuffed him.

"Canceled. Case was dropped. Higher ups determined the shiv was there from the previous inmate," the guard said. "It's your lucky day, kid."

Juice processed it all as he was led back to the cell he shared with Clay. Something wasn't adding up, and he didn't like it. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that whatever happened was a play on him, personally, and not the club. He knew a scheme when he saw one, and that's exactly what this felt like. Someone was playing a game of mindfuck with him, and he didn't appreciate it.

The guard uncuffed him and led him into the cell. The door closed behind him as he sat on the bunk, Clay sitting on his with a confused look on his face.

"Dropped? Just like that?" he asked after Juice told him what happened.

"I know," Juice replied. "Doesn't make sense to me, either."

Clay shrugged.

"Whatever man. Just count your blessings. By the way, letter for you under the pillow. I didn't read it this time," he said, picking up his magazine and laying back on his bunk.

Juice grabbed the envelope and smiled at Ana's handwriting before opening it up to read it. As he did, the smile slid off his face.

_Juan,_

_This is the hardest thing I've ever done. But I'm leaving Charming, and I can't have you looking for me. Some serious shit went down, and I can't have the club being hurt because of me. You are too important for that. It's my fault that you got set up. It's no one's fault but mine and the person who hates me enough to do it. He's got the power to hurt everyone, and I love you all too much to put you all through that._

_I don't know where I'm going. I don't even know if I'm going to make it there. All I know is that I need to put as much distance between me and Charming as I can, before I'm found again._

_I love you. And I'm so sorry._

_Ana_

"No," Juice muttered, rereading it again. "Shit, Ana, no!"

"What?" Clay asked, taking the letter from Juice, who was looking as if it had literally exploded in his face. Clay read it, and looked back at Juice.

"Oh, man," Clay said. "I'm...I'm sorry, brother."

"She just...she just fucking left," Juice said, a tear falling down his face. "She's gone, man."

Clay walked over and put his arm around Juice. The gesture was too much- Juice broke down and began to sob.

"It's okay, son. We'll get to the bottom of it all, I promise," Clay said, rereading the letter again.

Who in the hell hated Ana so much to get her to do this?

* * *

><p>Ana was tired. She drove all night, and finally stopped at a cheap motel in Reno to get some sleep. She was so tired she'd paid with her card, instead of cash that she had planned to use. Cursing her ignorance, she decided to get her identity changed while she was in town, and that was the last thought she had before falling into a troubled sleep.<p>

Once she woke up, she decided to look around the city before taking off again, and she found a tattoo parlor.

Ana looked into her purse and pulled out her sketchbook. She had planned on getting a tattoo when Juice got out, and she'd spent weeks designing the perfect one. Well, now she was never going to see Juice again, but she wanted a permanent reminder of him, and the life she'd lived and loved for almost three years, so she steeled herself, and walked in, determined.

Soon, Ana was laying back on the table as the tattoo artist held the drawing of what she wanted in his hand.

"Who's Juan?" he asked in a gravelly voice that reminded her of Happy. That thought made tears spring to her eyes but she blinked them away.

"Someone who will always be with me," Ana said, hoisting up her shirt to just below her breasts. "Could you put it on my side?"

"Yeah. You do this yourself?" he asked, gesturing to the drawing before prepping her skin.

"Yep," Ana replied, closing her eyes as she felt him drawing it on. "How long is this going to take?"

"Five hours or so. It's very detailed, plus I'm going to need to add the color."

"Good," Ana said.

"It's probably going to hurt like a bitch. You picked a hell of a spot for your first tattoo," the artist said, adding in the details. "You sure about this?"

"Yeah," Ana said. "I want it to hurt. I want it known that loving him was worth every minute."

"You wanna talk about what happened?" he asked, prepping the tattoo gun.

"Not really," Ana replied, letting the tears flow freely. She heard the gun start and mentally prepared herself for what was about to happen. And even though the tattoo did hurt like a bitch, it couldn't touch the pain that was in her heart.

And she deserved every bit of it.

* * *

><p>A week later was vistation day, and Juice was sitting at the table, waiting once again. Instead of Ana coming by, it was Gemma. He was hoping she'd have some word on where Ana would have gone. He still had her goodbye letter on him, and he was trying to see if there was a clue as to what or who made her do this. Ana wasn't an impulsive person. She also wasn't cruel. There had to be a reason this was happening, and a reason why she didn't tell anyone what was going on.<p>

Gemma's heart broke as she saw Juice sitting at the table, his eyes downcast. She could make out a ball of paper in his hand and she knew without asking that it was Ana's letter.

She wanted to hate that girl so much, but something was telling her not to. Ana didn't flake on anyone. She was scared, and had ran all of her life. This was natural to the girl, and Gemma couldn't blame her for that.

"Hey, sweetheart," Gemma said, hugging Juice quickly and sitting down.

"Anything?" Juice asked flatly, somehow already knowing the answer. His heart still broke when Gemma shook her head.

"Completely dropped off the radar. Last check on Ana Lewis was in Reno, and then the trail goes cold. There's places in Reno that changes identities, and I'm sure that's what she's done. Chibs and Opie sent Miles and Kozic to see what they can find," she replied.

Juice looked up at Gemma, his eyes full of tears.

"She loves me, Gem. I know she does," he said, unballing the paper and reading over it again. "I want to know who is in town that made her run. It's got to be someone dealing with her dad. That's the only thing I can think of at the moment."

Gemma nodded as she observed Juice looking at the paper, and then smiled when she saw a fire return to his eyes as he looked back at her.

"I don't give a shit what she said, Gemma," he said, folding up the paper and putting it in his pocket. "I'm going after her once we're out of here. Even if I have to walk across this damn country, I will find her, and I'm bringing her home."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Don't hate me! I needed to find a way to get Juice away from the bullshit that would come with the cartel, and this was the best thing I could think of. Something I hadn't seen done in the other Juice fics. <strong>_

_**Ana isn't thinking rationally right now. I've pretty much switched the mindset of her and Juice between each other. She thinks she's protecting them by going away, much like Juice thought he was protecting the club when he did all the things he did. Juice is going to be the rational one for a while, now, and I think people are going to like it. He's going to be standing up to a lot of people, and people are going to notice.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**_Four months later..._**

Juice walked down the cell block to the changing area, where he would be getting into the clothes Gemma had dropped off for him earlier that week. It was release day, and Juice couldn't bring himself to be excited. The only thing he was looking forward to was the freedom to do everything he could to find Ana, and the person responsible for making her leave. Whoever that person was would be getting a rude awakening once Juice found out who they were. No one fucked with the people he loved and got away with it.

He sighed as he joined the rest of the guys to get his personal affects. He put his rings back on,hooked his wallet chain to his jeans, and waited for everyone else to get done.

The past four months changed something in him. He hardly talked to anyone unless he was spoken to, and he'd spent more time lifting weights and at the punching bag in the last few weeks. He still had a lot of anger inside of him, but nothing he did could get rid of it. He wanted to be angry at Ana, but something was stopping him. He had a gut feeling that it wasn't her fault. No, he was mad at the entire situation, and he was irate at the unknown source of what made her leave in the first place.

Happy, however, was pissed at her. He was hurt by her leaving, too, more than he cared to admit. He thought Ana should have told someone what was going on. Opie and Chibs would have handled it immediately if it would have hurt the club. Juice didn't think it was that simple, but what was these days? Maybe Happy did have a point.

"You okay, bro?" Jax asked him sympathetically. Juice just shrugged, and Jax nudged his shoulder.

"Hey, we're going to get to the bottom of it," he said. "I promise. And if shit gets too deep, and you need to step away, just tell us, alright?"

"Yeah," Juice said. "Thanks, I'll let you guys know."

The doors opened, and Juice smiled despite his sour mood. He walked out to greet the rest of his brothers. Chibs clapped his back enthusiastically, and then pulled back.

"Got nothing, man," he said before Juice could even ask. Sons in Reno said a tattoo artist there gave her a tat, but wouldn't say what or where. She sold the Miata there, too, but people who bought it won't give us a name or the car she got from them."

Juice shook his head. He loved that woman for being smart most of the time, but sometimes she was too smart for her own good, and this was one of those times. He didn't know if she was running from the club, or the person who made her leave. Hell, it could be both.

"Thanks, man," Juice said, taking his kutte from Chibs. "I'll be able to help now, so maybe we can get some answers."

"Ana doesn't seem to want to be found, man," Kozic said. "Best bet is to find out WHY she left first."

Kozic had a point. If they found out why, it may be easier to find out the where.

"Let's get home," Clay said, straddling his bike. Juice got on his own, and, with a final glance at the prison, he followed his brothers back to Charming.

It wasn't home until Ana was back.

* * *

><p>Denver, Colorado. Ana liked it enough, but it wasn't home to her, either.<p>

She picked another big city to relocate to. She didn't want be stuck in another small town, getting attached to people just to have to leave again.

She adjusted the wig on her head and rolled her eyes. It was auburn and wavy, and it was itchy as hell. She couldn't bring herself to cut her hair, so she opted for the wig. She also got contacts to hide her eyes. This wouldn't have been necessary, but it turned out that the Sons had a charter here, too. Ana's first instinct was to leave, but no one from Denver knew who she was, especially under a different name. If she changed the way she looked, it could be easier to stay put for a while, at least until Mark left Charming.

She was Amber Rodriguez now, from New Orleans's Ninth Ward. She'd found an apartment, and was now applying for a job at a night club downtown. She didn't have much experience with bar tending, but she was willing to learn it.

The club, called Chaotic Roses, was pretty upscale. They catered to the rich and famous, and the owner, Tiki Robson, made sure Ana knew that. After grilling her about appropriate behavior and ways to get good tips, he stood up.

"You think you up for it?" Tiki asked, with a skeptical tone.

Ana nodded.

"Definitely."

"Well, then, Ms. Rodriguez, consider yourself hired," he said, tossing her an apron. "You start tonight."

Ana grinned and thanked Tiki before she left. As she left the building, she ran into a girl carrying a heavy suitcase.

"You need some help?" Ana asked kindly. The woman looked up with a grateful smile.

"Absolutely. Thanks," she said. Ana grabbed one end as the girl grabbed the other, and, together, they hauled it to the stage at the front of the club.

"Phew! Thanks," she said. "Normally I have help but my partner is sick and of course, no one else wanted to pick up their phones. I'm Jenni."

"Amber," Ana said, shaking Jenni's hand. "I'm the new bartender."

"Oh, cool," Jenni said. "I'm the DJ, nice to meet you. Thanks for the help, but I've got to get this set up. I'll see you later."

"Later," Ana replied, looking back at Jenni as she walked away. For some reason, her smile sent an ache through her heart, and she couldn't place why. It was like she'd seen it before.

On the ride back home, she thought about Juice. He got out of jail today, and it killed her that she wasn't there. Most of all, it killed her that he probably hated her now, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

* * *

><p>The last thing Juice wanted to do today was attend a wedding. It had been something he'd been looking forward to when he got out, but now it felt like yet another slap in his face.<p>

He found the money in his dorm room, just where Ana said it would be. He didn't know why she didn't take it with her, it would have made things easier for her. He still couldn't bring himself to go to the house. He didn't know how it would look, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to walk through the door without seeing Ana at her easel, or dancing around her kitchen to her music.

Juice wiped his eyes and put his kutte on. He debated on cutting his hair, but decided against it. It would take too much time to do it now, and he was running late enough. He wanted to skip it completely, but the entire club had to be on the reservation tonight. They were going to be handling the Russians. He was supposed to help with that, but Jax took him off the job when they got back.

"You don't need that shit right now, man," Jax had said, despite Juice protesting. Juice had reluctantly conceded when Clay agreed with Jax. Killing the Russians combined with Juice's current mental state was asking for disaster.

So, the wedding passed without much incident. Juice laughed a little bit at the way the club chimed in with the rest of Opie's vows, but made a mental note to tell someone that shit won't allowed when he got married.

Because he planned on getting married. He was still going to find Ana, and he was going to bring her home. Yeah, what she did hurt, but no matter what anyone else said, he knew she had a good reason to leave. His first step was to find out what that reason was.

After the ceremony, he turned down a crow eater trying to dance with him and grabbed a beer from the bar. He thought about what Jax said in the prison, about maybe needing to step back from the club for a while. It would probably be best, but the fact was he needed the club's help when it came to looking for Ana. She didn't want to be found, her paper trail going cold being proof of that. She could be anywhere in the world, and although the task was next to impossible, he was still willing to take it on.

"Wanna dance, handsome?" another crow eater asked him, a smile on her lips. Her name was Meg, and she'd been trying to get with Juice for years. Juice had always turned her down, because he knew she was wanting more than sex, and he didn't want to lead her on for that.

Juice shook his head wearily.

"Not now," he said. "Not in the mood."

"You still upset about Ana?" Meg asked, sitting next to him, asking for a shot of whiskey. Juice just nodded, and she sighed.

"Shit was unexpected, Juice. The day before she left, she was acting off," she said, downing the shot. Juice perked up at this information. Anything helped, after all.

"Off?" he asked, stopping the bartender before he refilled Meg's glass. She nodded, and looked back at Gemma before speaking.

"It started the day Jax called, about you being in solitary. I don't know what happened after she went home, but the day before she left she just looked lost. I caught her crying a few times, and I heard a phone conversation where she was arguing with someone. Like almost begging them."

"What did you hear?" Juice asked. "Please, I need to know."

"She was asking the person to please just let it go. That Los Angeles was in the past, and she just wanted to live her life. Then she said 'I'll leave, just don't hurt him anymore'. She was crying a little bit when I saw her after, but she was still nice, like she always was."

Juice had his first clue. Los Angeles. Someone from Los Angeles was in Charming, and had something to do with Ana. It wasn't dealing with her father, after all; he'd been from Seattle.

"Anything else I should know?" Juice asked Meg, draining the rest of his beer.

"Nah. I asked Gemma if she was okay, and she said that Ana had depression and she was probably just having an off day."

"Yeah, she does have that. Thanks, sweetie," he said, getting up and kissing her cheek quickly. "You've been a great help."

"I hope you find her," Meg said. "You two were good for each other, I don't know much about her, but from what I heard that day, leaving was the last thing she wanted to do."

* * *

><p>Ana's first night went well at the club, and she was wiping off the bar when the girl called Jenni walked over.<p>

"Good first night?" she asked with a bright smile. Ana grinned and flashed a wad of cash at her. Tips had been excellent, and according to Tiki, tonight was a slow night.

"I think so," Ana replied. "You're pretty good, you know, being a DJ and all."

"Yeah?" Jenni asked, sitting down and taking the glass of water Ana handed over. "I think it's a family thing. My brother was pretty good with computers, and before he split, he showed me the basics of how to mix music."

"That's cool," Ana replied, tossing the rag into the soap bucket and leaning on the counter. "Sorry about your brother, though. I don't know how that feels, I was an only child."

"It's cool. I mean, I miss the shithead, but I don't even know if he's alive. He was always protective. He was my best friend, but got caught up in the wrong crowd. He just disappeared. He got in touch with Mom, so she knew he was okay, but he couldn't come back. That was ten years ago, though. After our mom died, they put me in a group home," Jenni said sadly. "I've been looking for him since I turned 18. My husband helped while he was alive."

"Wait, you were married?" Ana asked in disbelief. Jenni didn't even look like she was 18, and that made her wonder how old she really was.

Jenni nodded, and smiled sadly.

"Yeah. Arturo was the love of my life. Married him when I was 18. We met in the group home, and he enlisted like right after. I was pregnant with my youngest when he was killed," she said.

"I'm sorry," Ana said. Jenni had a lifetime of sorrow, yet she was chipper as she could be. Ana knew a strong woman when she saw one, and Jenni was definitely the epitome of the word. She could probably give Gemma Teller a run for her money.

"It's life. I can't let the bullshit drag me down, or I'd always be running," Jenni said. "My brother, he's a runner. I love him, but I'd respect him more if he'd faced the bullshit back in New York head on, you know?"

Those words hit Ana like a ton of bricks. She was a runner, too, and she was just like Jenni's brother. She hurt those she left behind. It didn't matter how good her intentions were, her actions still hurt her family.

She was interrupted by a shrill ringing. It was the phone she carried in Charming. She hadn't turned it off yet, mainly because she needed a way to get back in touch with someone if something went wrong. They were the only ones she trusted, even if she didn't act like it.

She looked at the screen and saw Juice's name on the ID. She let it ring, but then her heart fell when she saw he'd left a voice mail.

"I'll be right back," she said. Ana went to the back where the drinks were, and hit the voicemail icon.

"Ana? Okay so your phone is still on, which means you're not exactly trying to forget us, so that makes me feel better. I just want you to know I don't hate you. I still love you. And I always will, babe. Just please call me back so I can know you're okay, please. Just do that much for me."

Ana bit her lip, trying not to cry. She didn't want him to love her still, that just made things worse. She sent a quick "I'm fine" text to him, and then powered the phone down.

She didn't intend on turning it back on. Charming needed to stay in her past, for Juice's own good.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Ten points to those who can guess who Jenni is. I think I made it a little too obvious.<strong>_

_**The next few chapters are going to be completely Juice-centric. I don't like writing Ana without him. It's hard, and I just want them to find each other again.**_

_**Thanks to all the reviewers so far. You guys rock!**_


	5. Chapter 5

Juice woke up in his dorm room a few days later, his phone still in his hand. He'd fallen asleep trying to get Ana to answer back for a couple days now, but she'd gone ghost on him again.

That was okay. He knew she was alive, and okay, and that was all that mattered. He decided that his next step was going to be trying to find out where she'd been the weeks before she left, and what Los Angeles had to do with all of it.

It had to be something dealing with her ex fiance. The one that died, and then it came out that he was married the entire relationship. Ana had left Los Angeles, falsely being accused as a homewrecker. But the way she made things sound, it didn't bother her much. She had let all that pain go, she said as much the night he asked her to be his Old Lady. Juice couldn't remember the guy's name to save his life, though. He was sure once he had a name, the rest would fall into place.

As it was, he still had the club business on top of his personal trainwreck. Clay was wanting the club to become drug mules, for lack of a better term. Sure, the money was good, but Juice thought there were better ways to get it. Even if the cartel was out, they still made money from the Niners and the Italians with the guns. They could reopen the porn studio and make legit money that way, too. He'd talked to Jax about it, when Jax tried to get him to vote yes. He already told Jax it wasn't going to happen. He'd had enough experience with the drug shit back in Queens-it was the reason he found himself in Charming to begin with. Besides, he'd heard enough about the cartels while in Queens. That was bloody territory, territory he was not willing to die for.

They had a vote planned for that day, but until then, he was due at the barn to start working on the boxes for the gun transports. So he put on a new shirt, and headed out, hoping today would be better.

* * *

><p>Chibs stumbled into the barn, looking miserable. The man had been suffering with his stomach, even after Juice warned him the night before about chasing crappy burritos with Jim and Jack.<p>

"Juicy," Chibs groaned. "You think you could set me up at that colon place you got?"

"Yeah," Juice replied. "I can set you up with a mint colonic, and it would flush everything-"

"Stop!" Tig cried as Happy gagged. "I don't want to hear about how you plan to make Chibs shit."

Juice rolled his eyes. Tig had no business being grossed out by what his place did, especially when he's admitted to fucking corpses.

"Come on, man," Juice said to Chibs, deciding not to even respond to Tig. "We'll take the tow truck out there now, and we'll get you fixed up."

"Thanks, brother," Chibs said, following Juice out to the truck. They rode in silence for a bit, except for Chibs letting out a groan every now and then.

"Where you at with this cartel thing?" Chibs finally asked as they stopped at a red light. Juice drummed his hands on the wheel as he waited.

"I told Jax no. And I'm not changing that," Juice said. "Cartel, that's some serious shit. We don't need it around a bunch of guys out on parole."

"Aye," Chibs said as the light turned green. "My vote's a no, too. I don't trust Galindo. I get why Clay and Jax want it, but there's better ways to make money."

"That's what I said, too," Juice replied, turning into the parking lot. "Come on, man. I'll wait until you're done."

* * *

><p>Juice and Chibs left the shop an hour later, Chibs joking about how well it went.<p>

"I saw shit in there I ate when I was seven. That is some amazing stuff, brother," he said. Juice laughed his first real laugh in weeks. He grabbed some weed while he was there, and was just about to check it out when a police car parked in front of them.

"Hey, guys," Juice said sarcastically as two officers got out. One was a tall black man and the other looked white, but Juice could spot the Latin features. He had a swagger that automatically annoyed Juice. "If you guys are heading in, I reccomend the green tea and mint."

The white guy just grinned, and Juice felt the urge to kick him in the nuts all of a sudden.

"Hands on the wall, let's go," the guy said.

Chibs and Juice looked at each other, then Juice rolled his eyes when the asshole pulled him to the wall. He frisked him, and pulled out the weed from his coat.

"I got a card," Juice said.

"Federal government doesn't give a shit, let's go," the asshole cop said, pulling him with him. Chibs looked angry and confused. Juice just shrugged his shoulders as he got in the car. Pushed was the more operative word.

"You guys going to tell me what I'm charged with? It's on the record I've got a card for that," he said as they drove to the station.

"No charges yet," the asshole cop said. Juice looked in the rearview at the guy's badge. It said M. Corcoran. He'd only seen this jerk one time, and that was the day they came home. Juice hadn't paid that particular interaction much mind, as he was still in a fog about the Ana situation.

"So why am I cuffed in the back of a police car?" Juice asked.

"I gotta ask some questions about a friend of yours," Corcoran said. "Best to wait if we get there, though, so it's all on the record."

Juice narrowed his eyes.

"What friend?"

* * *

><p>Juice sat in front of Corcoran's desk, pissed as hell. This pretentious prick had stayed silent after he asked what friend the guy meant, and was making a show of getting coffee before sitting down.<p>

"Before you went inside," Corcoran said finally. "You were involved with a young lady."

Juice narrowed his eyes.

"Maybe I was," he said. "Hypothetically, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Oh, nothing," Corcoran said, looking a little disappointed. He'd been hoping for a bigger reaction when he mentioned Ana, but clearly, Juice wasn't taking the bait. "Just would have been nice if you had someone to go home to after I share some information with you. Information that could have you kicked out of SAMCRO."

Juice rolled his eyes.

"Information like what, shithead?" he asked, tired of this fool's mind games. Corcoran handed him a file, and Juice opened it. Inside was a picture of a man at a stove, with a huge smile on his face.

"Okay? What's this about?" Juice asked, looking at it curiously. "I mean, he's handsome and all, but I'm not gay."

"Isn't that dear old Dad?" Corcoran asked, gleefully. "I noticed that he's black."

"Well, hooray, you're not blind. What's him being black got to do with me?" Juice asked, glaring at the picture.

"Your club has rules against blacks joining their club, don't they?"

Juice bit the inside of his jaw and looked up. He had him there, the club did have that rule. There was no denying it. However, until today, he had no idea what his father even looked like, so it's not like that could have been held against him.

"It'd be a real shame if I happened to tell one of the members, wouldn't it?" Corcoran asked, and that's when Juice got it. This guy was trying to blackmail him, and he wasn't having it.

"Look man, I know what you're doing, and the shit's not going to work," he said angrily. "Either charge me, or let me go. I don't have time for this mind game bullshit."

"So you'd rather patch out of the club than to cooperate with the police?" Corcoran asked, a little desperate now. Potter had been so certain that Juice would fold, and so had Mark. With Ana out of town, Juice wasn't going to have much to live for. The club would be all he had, and he wouldn't want to lose it.

Clearly, they's understimated him. The way it looked now, they were going to have to try to get under someone else's skin.

"Yeah," Juice said. "Because I'm not a rat. Am I done here?"

Corcoran studied Juice for a moment before shrugging.

"Yeah," he said. "Get out."

That's what Juice did, slamming the door on the way out and running into Roosevelt.

"Problem?" he asked Juice. Juice just shook his head as he left the station.

He had to get to the club. Now.

* * *

><p>"Alright, everyone calm down," Clay said as the meeting came to order. "Before we vote on the drugs, Juice has something he wants to say."<p>

Juice stood up and looked at all of the men before speaking.

"Before I start, I just want to say what I'm about to tell you, is some shit I literally just found out. I haven't been holding it back. I didn't know when I patched," he said. He wanted it all out in the open, that way if they did patch him out, it would be over with quickly and they would know the truth before making that decision. Juice debated on not telling them on the way back, but then decided doing things that way would make it worse if Corcoran did go through with his threat.

"What are you talking about?" Jax asked, confused.

"One of the new sheriffs picked me up today. Corcoran or something," Juice said. "He tried to blackmail me into turning rat."

"With what?" Clay asked, intrigued.

Juice took in a deep breath. This was it.

"He found information on my father. It turns out he's black," he said.

It was silent for a moment.

"That it?" Jax asked, as if he was expecting more.

"Yeah?" Juice asked back, not understanding why they were looking at him like he was an idiot, and not like a traitor that he thought he'd be seen as. "Isn't that against the by laws?"

Jax looked over at Clay, who was trying not to smile.

"Some of that shit can be thrown out," Chibs said. "Besides, your birth certficate says what? Under race, what's checked?"

"Hispanic," Juice said without hesitating.

"That's right," Clay said. "You're Hispanic. So is Hap, and he's not being thrown out any time soon. So what, your dad's a different shade a brown. I don't give a fuck about it. Does anyone else?"

A bunch of "no"s echoed in the room. Clay then grinned at Juice.

"Look, I'm glad you came to us with this," he said. "I mean it. You could have let this get in your head and you didn't. You came straight to us, and that says something. I think I speak on behalf of all of us when I say I'm proud of you, son."

Juice nodded, feeling a little stupid, but mostly relieved.

"Now, this Corcoran guy, we know now he's a dirty cop," Clay said. "Can't be trusted. Find out what you can on him, see where his weak points are. I'll talk to Roosevelt later on today about the people he has on his payroll."

Juice nodded, and then the atmosphere got solemn.

"Since we're all here, let's go ahead and vote this drug thing," Clay said.

Juice voted no, along with Happy, Chibs, Bobby, and Piney, but it didn't matter. The drugs passed with a vote of 6-5, and with a slap of the gavel, the meeting was over. Chibs clapped Juice on the back as they left the room.

"You stepped up, man," he said happily. "I'm glad to see it. I think the girl's smarts may have rubbed off on you."

"I'm still going to look for her," Juice said lowly. "And while I'm glad I'm not being thrown out, I still ain't down with this cartel shit."

"Didn't expect you to be, boy," Chibs said. He was glad that Juice was holding his own against the world, especially in the wake of Ana's leaving. Chibs was stinging a little from that particular incident, given he'd seen her the morning she left at the garage. She had told him she'd see him later, but he should have guessed something was up when it was her second day in a row of having tears in her eyes when he'd seen her. Juice was doing better than he expected, and Chibs hoped he kept on like that.

But most of all, he hoped they'd find Ana soon, because while Juice was putting on a good front, everyone in the club knew that he needed her. He needed her badly.

* * *

><p><em><strong>So, what did you guys think about how Juice handled this? <strong>_

_**Also, yes, Jenni IS Juice' sister! She has a character profile, linked on my profile. She's going to have a major role coming up, and I hope you guys like who I see her as.**_

_**Mark Corcoran. I created him and I hate his guts. I hope you guys will, too. I was actually fond of Potter and Roosevelt when they weren't harassing Juice, so I'm trying not to turn them into bad guys this time. And he's not going to to die right away, oh no. I have big plans for this asshole. **_

_**I am amazed by the feedback, guys. Truly, I appreciate it! I've had a shitty day but the bright spots were the gmail notifications I've been getting all day with reviews. **_


	6. Chapter 6

The next few days passed by without incident. The guys treated Juice normally, as if his confession hadn't even happened. He put his search for Ana on hold to help get the coke into Charming for the Mayans.

Corcoran made good on his threat, and told Jax about Juice's dad. However, that plan backfired on him when Jax informed him that they already knew, and that Corcoran should find someone else's life to ruin. So it was no surprise to Juice when he was picked up for a random drug test outside his weed shop, and then ended up in Corcoran's office again.

"Alright, shithead," Corcoran said, incensed. His plan had backfired, and backfired big time. "I know your MC is dealing drugs into this town. Where are they at?"

Juice shrugged, amused at the cop's anger. "No idea, dude. MC doesn't deal in drugs, never has," he said.

"You're lying," Corcoran seethed. "It'd be a shame for your pathetic ass to end up back in jail, after everything that little bitch of yours did to make sure you wouldn't be held longer."

Juice's smile slid off his face, and he stood up angrily. What was this guy talking about? How did he know about Ana, and what did he mean by after everything she'd done?

"What did you just say?" he asked, danger ringing in every sylable.

Mark grinned. He'd hit his target dead center, and he knew it.

"Ana Lewis? Yeah, we go way back," Corcoran said. Juice looked at the certificates on the guy's walls, and, sure enough, once of them was from a police academy in Los Angeles. Mark Corcoran. Juice filed that away for later.

"What do you mean, everything she did?" Juice asked, in a calm but deadly tone.

"Well," Mark said, still relishing in the fact that he'd hit Juice's weak spot. "I found out she was here, and her being here created a big problem for me. So I may have put some ideas in her pretty little mind that made her leave."

Juice thought back to when he was in prison and then another thing clicked into place.

"You're the one who got me solitary?" Juice asked, his voice rising with anger. "You piece of shit!"

"Hey," Mark said. "She's the one who was a coward and left. Guess she didn't really love you as much as you thought she did."

Juice's first instinct was to pound this smug motherfucker's skull in, but he reigned it in just as Lt. Roosevelt opened the door.

"Everything okay in here?" he asked, eying both of them with distrust. Juice wanted to know what the story was there, but right now he had more pressing matters.

"Just peachy," he said, still glaring at Mark with pure hatred. "Is my piss clean or what?"

"Yeah. You can get out of here," Roosevelt said, still wary of the look in Juice's eyes. As Juice closed Corcoran's door, Roosevelt tapped his shoulder. "You mind telling me what happened? We could hear you upstairs."

Juice shook his head.

"Look, Juice," Eli said. "I don't know what the deal is between you and Corcoran, but you need to be careful. I'm not your biggest fan, but I know when someone's being manipulated-"

"I'm not being manipulated," Juice said defensively. "He didn't get to me."

"Didn't he? You were angry about something," Eli said as they walked out the police station. "It wasn't my choice to put him here, but I couldn't exactly turn him away, either. Now I'm going to ask again, do you want to tell me what he has on you?"

"It's not on me," he said. "I think he got to my girlfriend. She left while I was inside. Out of character."

"I could look into it-"

"No," Juice said. "I'll come to you if I need help, but right now I need to get some answers and you can't give them to me. Sorry."

It was obvious Roosevelt was still confused, but he shook Juice's hand anyway. "Just give me a call when you need it," he said.

* * *

><p>Chibs rubbed his face as he sat outside the clubhouse with Bobby.<p>

It had been a rough day. Juice got picked up by the police again, and Miles had been caught with a brick of coke in his pocket by the Mayans while he was gone. It turned out the same cop that harassed Juice had gotten to Miles as well. He'd been hiding the fact that his father was one of the ones responsible for Otto's original arrest, and it seemed good old Miles was ready to follow in his rat father's footsteps. After debating his fate with the rest of the club, Clay decided to let the Mayans take him. After all, they'd found him, and it was their coke he was trying to steal.

So now they were a member down, and they had to tell Juice about it.

Chibs stood as he heard Juice's bike. He called out to him as he got off, and headed their way.

"How was the piss?" he asked.

"Clean," Juice snapped, storming into the clubhouse and slamming the door. Chibs looked back at Bobby, confused. Something was wrong. He knew Juice was still messed up over Ana, but this was something new. He must have found out something while he was at the station, probably dealing with that Corcoran bastard that baited him the other day.

"Be right back," he told Bobby. "Call Hap, tell him to get here."

* * *

><p>Juice was booting up his laptop, rage still burning in his body. Mark Corcoran knew Ana, and he was about to find out how. What was he to her? Why was he so against her being in Charming? Juice wasn't going to rest until he found out. Fuck the club, fuck the cartel. He needed answers, and he needed them now.<p>

Chibs walked into Juice's dorm, cursing and raising hell.

"What the bloody hell's the matter with you boy?" he raged. "Didn't you hear us trying to talk to you?"

"Give me a fucking minute, I'm trying to find something out," Juice shot back, typing in Mark Corcoran's name. First he tried Seattle, just to be sure Los Angeles was the place to be looking, but nothing clicked there.

"Brother, you've got to tell me what's wrong," Chibs said, less angry this time as he pulled up a chair to see what Juice was looking at.

"That bastard cop," Juice spat, looking in Los Angeles next. "He knows Ana. He's the reason she left." He clicked a newspaper article that had an obituary linked to Corcoran, and read quickly.

"Gavin Corcoran, 28, died blah blah blah survived by his wife Erica and twin brother Mark..."

"Brother, look," Chibs said, pointing to the crime section under the obituary. Juice looked and saw immediately what Chibs was talking about.

Ana's police report from the assault on her father was published the day of Gavin's obituary, the day after the funeral took place.

"Gavin...why is that name so familiar?" Juice asked, racking his brain for the conversation that he knew existed.

"Why'd she leave Los Angeles, Juice?" Chibs asked, trying to piece the clues together as well.

"The guy she was with...he'd been married the entire time. Things turned to shit for her- OH SON OF A BITCH!" Juice yelled, throwing his laptop against the wall, where it shattered. Juice didn't care, though. He leaped off the bed and grabbed the keys to his bike.

"Juice, NO!" Chibs said, taking off after him. It had fallen into place for Chibs as well, and he knew that Juice was about to kill that son of a bitch. He was storming out the clubhouse, with Chibs hot on his heels when Happy pulled into the lot.

"Happy, grab em!" Chibs yelled desperately. Happy didn't hesitate. He grabbed Juice from the front as Chibs pulled his arms behind him. Juice was struggling against the two men, still trying to get to his bike.

"Let me go!" Juice cried, trying to elbow Chibs in the face. Chibs dodged the shot and punched him in the ribs. Down Juice went, nearly taking Happy with him. However, he tried to get back up again, despite his ribs screaming in protest.

"Jesus Christ, Juicy, stop!" Chibs said. "This isn't bringing her back!"

"What the fuck?" Happy asked as they pushed Juice into a sitting position on the picnic table.

Juice stopped struggling and turned to Chibs, with a heartbreaking look.

"He's that rat bastard's twin brother, Chibs! He made her leave because he blames her for that shit!"

"I know, brother," Chibs said as Happy swore and kicked a beer bottle across the parking lot. Of course this was about Ana. She was the only one who ever got Juice fired up like this.

Gemma came out to see what the commotion was about.

"What's wrong with Juicy?" she asked sympathetically, walking over.

"He's found out who got Ana to leave," Chibs said, as Juice sat on a picnic table, head in his hands.

"What?" Gemma asked in shock, before kneeling at Juice's knees. The boy's anger had faded and now he was practically sobbing with his head on his knees.

"Juice, honey, look at me," she said calmly.

Juice did, and Gemma didn't even have to say anything. She saw it all in the boy's eyes. He was blaming himself, when he shouldn't have been doing it. He had no idea what was going on while he was inside.

Juice quietly filled her in on everything that had happened, and Gemma felt herself getting sicker as everything clicked into place. She knew something had been up with Ana, but had attributed it to her condition combined with Juice being in jail. Still, she had had a gut feeling and didn't follow it. If anyone should be blaming themselves, it was her.

"You need to find her," Gemma said. "Bring her home."

Juice nodded, and looked up at Chibs and Happy.

"I need the chapel," Juice said. "Now."

* * *

><p>Clay sat at the head of the table, most of the guys confused as to why Juice called the meeting, of all people. They were amazed at how he just brushed the news about Miles aside, so they knew this had to be huge.<p>

"What's on your mind, Juice?" Clay asked, nodding for him to go ahead.

"Mark Corcoran the cop? He's been baiting me for a while, and while I was at the piss test, he mentioned Ana. Hinted that he'd known her before she came here," Juice said, taking a deep breath. "Most of you know why she left Los Angeles. "

"I don't," Kozic said. Bobby and Tig shook their heads; they didn't either.

"She'd been with a married man for five years. She didn't know he was married. So she got the bad reputation there, and she ran here, where she could start over," Juice explained.

"What's that got to do with Corcoran?" Bobby asked. "He the guy?"

"No, the guy died in a car accident," Happy replied. "Good riddance, too."

"Mark is his twin brother," Juice said. "He wants to hurt her, and hurt her bad. Put me in solitary to get her to leave. It worked, and now I'm guessing he tried to use my dad to get me outcast or even killed, knowing that would destroy her."

"Why would he want to hurt her so bad? This is more than just an affair, brother. Ana's really pissed him off," Opie said.

"I did some research into that, too," Juice said. It was true. While he waited for everyone to get to the clubhouse, he'd borrowed the computer in the office and looked up a few key things. "Gavin's wife was the daughter of a huge tycoon. Her connections got Gavin a good job, and his family into some of the most exclusive social circles. We're talking Trump style living. After Gavin's death, they were cut off. No more money, no more party invitations. Odd for the in-laws to be cut off like that, right?"

"The wife found out about the affair," Opie said.

Juice nodded. "I don't know why I didn't do this before, but I got into Ana's email account. I found multiple messages between her and the wife right after her assault arrest. Ana was saying how sorry she was, and she had no clue about her. The wife seems to have believed her, and told her it wasn't her fault they were both played."

Jax swore. "Mark and Mommy are probably mad because their meal ticket was having dessert on the side," he said.

"That's my guess, too," Juice said. "And instead of placing blame where it belonged, they decided to blame Ana. Mark was in the LAPD and then requested to transfer to Sanwa when the news got out about them taking over Charming PD. I think he's been keeping tabs on her for a while."

The table was silent. All of them had love for Ana, and had no idea how bad her past really was. Where most of them were mad at her for leaving, now they not only understood, but had also redirected their anger to another target. The man who made her go away.

"So where is she, now?" Clay finally asked. He wasn't crazy about a meeting being called over an Old Lady, but he knew how much Gemma loved the girl, and she was even like a daughter to him, now. He had to do everything he could to help bring her home.

"Like we said a couple weeks ago. Trail puts her last at Reno and it goes cold," Kozic said. "Some people there says they saw her getting a tattoo, then she left. Sold the Miata while there."

"I'm going after her," Juice said, looking at Clay and shaking his head. "I need to step away from the cartel shit and the club for a minute, before I lose my mind and do something stupid."

"It's going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack," Piney said.

"I don't care," Juice said. "I'll go Nomad if I have to. But I'm going to look for her, with or without SAMCRO's help. It would just be a lot better with it."

Clay looked around at the looks on the members faces. Jax was in disbelief and Tig was unamused, but the rest of them looked like they agreed with Juice. He'd kept it together for a while, but there was no question that he needed to find his girl.

"You do what you need to do," Jax finally said. "Let us deal with Corcoran, you find Ana. Chibs-"

"No," Happy said. "I'll go with him. No offense to Chibs but I know the roads better, with the Nomads and all."

Chibs nodded. "That'd be best. Juice and Happy going, and the rest of us dealing with the cartel here," he said.

Clay looked around.

"Do I even need to vote?"

"Wait," Tig said, looking at Juice. "You think she's worth all of this?"

"Yeah," Juice said. "I know she is."

Clay thought about it. He weighed the pros and the cons of letting Juice go. It really wasn't a question of letting him go, because Juice was leaving regardless. He was a man on a mission, fighting for something bigger than the club. He didn't want to lose that kind of fire in someone. Juice was a huge asset to the club, especially with this new attitude he'd gotten.

"You don't need to go nomad, son," he finally said to Juice. "You're going to need all the charters to keep an eye out for her. Piney's right, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack, but that's why you take magnets with you." He picked up the gavel and banged it, signaling the end of the meeting.

They had work to do.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Yep, it's time for Juice to find her, but that's going to be a little hard.<strong>_

_**I went ahead and killed off Miles. Most of the cartel storyline happens in the background from here on out, because now it's going to be my favorite brotp on the road.**_

_**Because Happy and Juice were always doing shit together before season 4. IDK what happened to that. Plus Happy is closest to Ana besides Juice and Gemma, so it makes sense for him to go with Juice to find her.**_

_**As always, you guys are awesome. Jenni and Ana come back next chapter**_


	7. Chapter 7

The week leading up to Happy and Juice's departure started out calm, but then everything went to hell.

Tensions were still running high from the cartel, and Tara had ended up getting a death threat in her car. Juice accidently let it slip that rival cartels always threatened family members, it was kind of their MO. He didn't mean to say it out loud, but he was on edge enough lately. The death threat was another reason he needed to find Ana. He wasn't about to underestimate these drug lord assholes; they had sources all over the world, and could track her down easier than he could even dream of.

They were actually patching up Alvarez when it went to shit. One minute they were helping Tara, the next they were being showered with bullets. Keeping his head down, Juice pulled his gun and ran outside to see who it was.

When he got outside, he could see a truck headed straight for Chibs. Remembering what happened with Hale the night of Half Sack's wake, Juice didn't hesitate. He pulled Chibs out of the way with one arm while shooting for the windshield of the approaching truck. There were more gunshots, and Juice cried out in pain, feeling the bullet hit his leg. The truck turned suddenly as Juice shot again, hitting one of the shooters in the the shoulder. He fell out the bed of the truck with a bag in his hands.

"Juicy boy, you okay?" Chibs asked as Juice groaned.

"I'm fine," he said, hopping on one leg to the fallen shooter.

"Boy, you're shot!" Chibs cried out as they reached the guy.

"Better me than you," Juice shot back, as Chibs and the rest of the guys surrounded the shooter. Filthy Phil opened the bag, and his face paled. Juice looked in it and almost threw up.

SAMTAZ's president, Armando, was looking back at him. It was obvious he and another guy had been beheaded. Definitely cartel work.

"Alright," Clay said, kicking the wounded shooter in the leg. "Get Juice patched up. Happy, you find out what this asshole knows."

"Bueno," Happy said as Chibs helped Juice into the clubhouse.

"You want me or Tara?" Chibs asked as Tara came out from where Alvarez was recovering.

"You," Juice said. "Sorry, Doc, I know you're probably late for work."

"It's no big deal, Juice," Tara said, following them to Chibs's dorm. "And don't worry about this morning. You were just being honest."

Juice laid on his stomach as Chibs cut his jeans where they could see the bullet wound.

"In and out," Tara said, shooting a local into his leg. "That's good. Just need to stitch you up and you'll be good as new."

They were silent as Tara softly stitched up the wound on Juice's leg. Chibs leaned against the wall, knowing that Juice had a lot to deal with without the cartel shooting up the place. The boy had taken a bullet for him, had saved his life, and took down one of the shooters in the process. Most of the club thought he was a lovesick fool, but Chibs knew there was more than that to Juice Ortiz. He cared about this club, too, and he proved that today.

"Be right back," Chibs said. He needed to talk to Clay.

* * *

><p>An hour later, Tara was done, and Juice was back on his feet, even if he was limping a bit. After thanking Tara, Juice made his way back in the clubhouse, where Chibs and Clay were talking. They looked back at him, and then Clay nodded to Chibs.<p>

"Juice," he said, standing up. "Come with me for a minute."

Juice was a little apprehensive as he followed Clay into the chapel. Clay sat at the head of the table and looked up at a still standing Juice.

"Take a seat," he said.

Juice went to walk to his chair, but Clay stopped him.

"No, over here," he said, gesturing to his right. Confused, Juice took a seat.

"I know things have been rough for you lately," Clay said. "It was your first prison sentence, and combined with Ana taking off, I know that it would destroy almost anyone. We were worried about you for a while."

"I'm fine," Juice said, confused still. "Really."

"You weren't at first, son," Clay said. "But still, you were able to put all that bullshit aside, and help us. You coming to us about your dad? That took some serious balls. You could have kept it to yourself and gave in to that asshole, but you didn't."

"I'm not a rat, Clay," Juice said. "I just did the right thing, the thing that made the most sense."

"Still," Clay said. "You had a choice, and you picked the right one by you, by the club. That, combined with what you did today, makes me feel good about giving you this."

Clay handed over a patch to Juice, and he looked at it. It was the Men of Mayhem patch.

"Most of the time, it's just riding around and getting shit done. Sometimes, it's more than that, and we ask our guys to do things very few men can do. And sometimes, those guys do things on their own, that not many would have the courage to do. That's what this means," Clay said as Juice picked up the patch, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. "I'm so proud of you. Your new attitude, it shows the fire that a Son needs. A leader needs. You keep it up, and soon, you may be sitting in that chair with a new flash on your chest."

Juice thought about that. Sgt at Arms? Him? Happy or Chibs would be a better candidate, and Juice cringed at the thought of being in a position of leadership. He was happy being a Son, the intelligence officer.

"Thanks," Juice said, hoarsely. "I..I don't know what to say, man."

"You ain't gotta say anything. Just go find your girl. Come back safe," Clay said, standing up and hugging Juice. "I love you, son."

"Love you, too."

* * *

><p>Juice had no clue how long they were going to be gone. Happy was looking forward to the trip, because he, like Juice, didn't want the club in the cartel. The shit with Miles trying to rat to the police should have been a wake up call to Clay, but apparently it wasn't. Both of them were glad to get away for a while. If shit went down, they wouldn't be there when it did.<p>

"Why do you keep trying to call her, man?" Happy asked as Juice hooked his bag to his bike with one hand while trying to call Ana again with the other. "She isn't answering."

"Cause," Juice said, putting the phone in his pocket. "If she answers, I can get a trace on where she's at. Cell phone GPS and all that."

"And she knows that," Happy said. "She's smart, Juice. She knows you're going to look for her, even after she told you not to."

"Only time I do what she's told is when she tells me to be careful," Juice replied, shrugging. "She probably thinks Corcoran is going to follow us if we go looking for her."

"I'm counting on it," Happy said darkly. "So where to first?"

"Reno," Juice said as they walked in the clubhouse to say goodbye to everyone. Gemma had wanted to go with them, but Juice persuaded her not to. She was needed in Charming, and Juice and Happy could handle the search on their own.

Tara handed Juice a small first aid box.

"Stay hydrated," she said. "You guys don't need your hands cramping up and laying your bike on the interstate."

"Thanks," Happy said. The rest of the club said goodbye to them, and then Gemma followed them out as they got on their bikes.

"Tell her I'm not mad at her," she said to Juice. "And that we need her back. We're not going to let that bastard hurt her again."

Juice smiled and kissed Gemma's cheek.

"You got it, Gem," he said, kick-starting his bike. He revved it, then spun tires as he left the garage, Happy following close behind.

Let the search begin.

* * *

><p>"Look, I already told your last guys, I ain't tellin' what she got. I don't know where she went."<p>

Juice and Happy were standing at the counter as the tattoo artist eyed them up and down.

"Why not?" Happy asked. Juice was having enough problems trying not to strangle the guy for not wanting to help him. All they wanted to know was what to look for.

"Cause," the guy said. "The poor girl was messed up enough when she came in. Crying and shit. I thought it was because this was her first tattoo, but no. Depressed is what she was. And if it's you guys she's running from, then I ain't tellin' shit."

"How do you know she was depressed?" Juice asked lowly.

"I just know," he said. "No one comes in crying, asking for a tattoo of someone's name if they're not depressed."

"Name?" Juice asked. The tattoo guy swore, knowing he'd given away too much already. "Was it Juice?"

"No, you moron," the tattoo guy said. "What kind of name is Juice? It was something else. Now get out."

Rolling their eyes, Juice and Happy left the shop.

"Well, that was a fucking waste," Juice said, kicking a can into the street.

"Not really, we know she got a name now," Happy said. "Every little bit helps, bro. Let's go see if we can get answers from the car place."

* * *

><p>Ana had just walked into the club, ready to start her shift, when she was squeezed by Jenni, who was giggling gleefully.<p>

"Hey, guess what!" she said.

"You met Usher?" Ana asked, clueless on what had her new friend so happy.

It had been a few weeks since she'd been working at the bar, and her and Jenni had gotten close. She adored Jenni's daughters, and they loved her, too. It went against everything in Ana's nature to get close to Jenni and her daughters but the girl just had a magnetism about her, and it was easy to become friends with her. She reminded Ana so much of Juice when they first met. It broke Ana's heart when she dwelled on it too long, but that's the only other person Ana knew who could draw someone in as quick as Jenni.

"No! Come in here for a minute," Jenni said, pulling Ana into the office where they clocked in. "I think I found my brother!"

Ana grinned. "That's fantastic!" she exclaimed. "Where is he?"

"That's the thing," Jenni said, her face falling a bit. "He was in jail. He got out about three months ago? I don't know. Anyway, I called the woman who he worked for, and she said that he's actually travelling right now, but she'd give him a call with my number. She sounded shocked he had a sister."

"That's really good," Ana said, hugging Jenni. "I'm really happy for you. I hope he calls."

"Me too," Jenni said, just as her phone rang. "Oh, I think this is him. I'll be back, okay?"

Ana nodded, with a smile still on her face when she walked out to the bar.

If she only knew who was on the other end of the phone...

* * *

><p>Juice didn't know what to do. It had been a month, and they still hadn't been able to get a good read on where Ana was. They'd tried Seattle. Reno. Los Angeles. No one had seen her. No one had even heard of Ana Lewis.<p>

The car place in Reno mentioned the girl was going to Seattle, but once they got there and saw that she wasn't there, Juice and Happy realized she'd laid a false trail. The girl was smart. She had too much of Gemma in her for this to be easy, Juice had decided.

So when Gemma called, saying some girl had called asking for him, and it was his sister, he took the welcome distraction. He needed something else to focus on for a minute, before he got more frustrated about Ana. He hadn't heard from his sister in nearly ten years. Not since he left Queens, and there wasn't a day that went by that he didn't think about her.

He had wrote down the number Gemma had given him, and, in a Seattle hotel room, he dialed it. Happy had gone out with some of the Tacoma charter, so he would have some privacy.

"Hello?" a girl's excited voice answered.

"Hey, Gemma Teller told me to call this number," Juice said, laying back on the pillows. "Something about my sister?"

"Juan, is that really you?" the girl asked.

"Jenni?" Juice asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"Juan! Oh dios mio it's really you! I'm going to cry!"

"Calm down, chica," Juice said, laughing but wiping his own eyes. "It's me. I'm okay."

"Why'd you go to prison for, cabron?" Jenni asked. "That's how I found you, ran your name through a crime database."

"That's my girl," Juice said with pride. "It was stupid shit. How have you been? Where are you?"

"I live in Denver. I've been okay. I'm a mama, now. You have two nieces."

Juice felt a lump in his throat as he smiled. His little sister had kids. Girls.

"I bet they're beautiful," he said. "How old are they?"

"Elizabeth is almost four, and Diana is two. They're gorgeous. Elizabeth looks just like Mami when she was that age," she said.

"Elizabeth...for Ma, right?" Juice asked.

"Yeah," Jenni said. "Mrs. Teller said you were travelling, what's that about?"

"Long story, Jenni. You up for a visitor? We could use the break," Juice said.

He could, and he really wanted to see his sister. He wanted to meet his nieces, and make sure that they were doing okay. Ana could wait. He knew she was fine wherever she was, but he had to make sure his family was going to be fine, too.

"Oh my God, seriously?" Jenni exclaimed. "Yes, yes please come! I can get my friend Amber to watch the girls and you could come to the club we work at and-"

"Slow down, Jen," Juice said, laughing. "Just tell me when, and we'll be there."

* * *

><p>Ana was asleep on the couch when she heard Jenni walk in, and she heard two other people walk in with her.<p>

She'd agreed to watch Jenni's kids while she could go spend time with her brother. She'd watched them before, and she had had fun then. Tonight though, the girls had worn her out, and she fell asleep as soon as they did.

"Who's that?" she heard someone whisper.

"Oh, that's the babysitter, Amber. She's really good with the girls. Works with me at the club. Why are you staring at her so hard, Happy?"

HAPPY? Ana thought, but willed herself to keep her eyes shut. She didn't have her contacts in, and she knew if Happy saw her without them, her cover was blown.

What the fuck was Happy doing in Denver? Had she been found out? Was he Jenni's sister?

"Looks familiar, that's all," Happy's raspy voice said skeptically.

"Everyone looks familiar to you," Ana heard another voice say. One she knew well, one she still heard in her head every day. She couldn't stay here. She needed to get out of this room...she was going to be sick.

Keeping her head down, she grabbed her stomach and bolted to the bathroom, where she threw up what seemed like everything she'd had to eat that day. After she was done, she laid with her head against the tub, trying not to let the sobs inside of her come out.

Why was Juice here? And furthermore, why was he with Jenni? Had he already moved on? Had he left Charming, too? Or was he the brother that Jenni kept on about?

It all made sense. These damn Ortizes and their magnetic affect on everyone. No wonder Jenni was perpetually cheerful even when she shouldn't be. It was a family trait. She even had Juice's dopey smile, now that she thought of it.

Ana retched again, even if her stomach was empty. She was so fucked.

"Amber? You okay hun?" Jenni's voice asked, concerned.

Her contacts were in her purse, and she needed them in before she walked back out. She couldn't let her cover be blown. Not tonight.

"Yeah, Jenni. Um, could you bring me my purse?" she asked, thankful that her voice was raspy. She needed to keep it that way, because if Juice was attuned to her like she was to him, and that was very likely, then she was in a lot of trouble.

Juice looked up as his sister came back with the babysitter. Amber or whoever did look sick, and didn't seem to want to look at them. Probably the head tattoos, he guessed.

"You can crash here," Jenni was saying as Amber got her things together. "I don't want you driving around sick, especially since you still don't know the streets that well."

"I don't want to intrude," Amber said, waving towards Happy and Juice.

"You're not," Juice said, feeling for the girl. "I'm her brother, and this is my friend. We were in the neighborhood and I ran into my sister while she was out."

Amber seemed to stiffen before looking up at him. Juice felt Happy go completely still. He didn't know why, but Amber was pretty. She had what looked like blue-ish eyes, and her hair was auburn and wavy. He would say she looked like Ana, but everyone looked like Ana to him these days.

Still, she had her eyes locked on Happy like a scared deer in headlights as the killer took in her appearance. Juice tapped Happy's chest, and shook his head when he looked down. "Don't worry," he said to Amber. "Happy isn't as mean as he looks."

"Sorry if I don't believe you," Amber shot back, her voice raspy. "Sorry, Jenni, but I really should go. Tiki's going to have my ass if I'm late in the morning. Nice meeting you guys."

Amber practically bolted out of the room and Jenni looked confused, and sad. "Poor girl," she said, sitting down.

"What's her damage?" Happy asked Jenni.

"Amber Rodriguez. Came here about three months ago, maybe four. She's from Baton Rouge, she said. "She doesn't talk much about her past, but some of the other girls think she was probably married to a banger and he got killed."

Juice nodded, feeling sorry for this Amber chick. He knew what it was like to try to forget the past. Sometimes he wished he could forget Ana, but he knew that whatever the reason, she was justified in walking away. He was still going to look for her, no matter how long it took.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Yep, here we are. End of the line for Ana. <strong>_

_**She's not completely off the hook, and there's going to be a big speech about it soon. Just because Juice doesn't hate her doesn't mean he's not mad. **_

_**Thanks guys for the reviews.**_


	8. Chapter 8

Ana didn't know how long Juice and Happy were going to be around, so she'd turned Jenni down when she asked if she'd like to come over for dinner. She pretended to be sick, or busy, or made up something else. She couldn't be around Happy and Juice. Juice didn't seem to suspect anything, but she had a feeling Happy knew who she was.

So she was grateful when they left, but then Jenni told her they'd be back in a couple of weeks.

"He's looking for a woman," Jenni said as they ate pizza at her place. The girls were already asleep for the night, and Jenni and Ana had began a ritual of watching Supernatural every week. "Like, not any woman. He told me he loves her and something happened while he was inside, and she just left."

Ana mentally rolled her eyes. Of course Juice wouldn't listen to her. She only hoped he didn't have a tail. She'd become fond of Jenni and her daughters, and not just because they were related to the man she loved. That fact just made things better...and so much worse when this went bad. Because Ana knew it was going to end badly.

"What's he going to do if he finds her?" Ana asked

"I don't know. He's not like mad at her or anything," Jenni said. "I mean, he is. But he's not. It makes sense if you knew him. He said it's up to her what he does next. That guy travelling with him, though? Hot. Scary, but hot."

Great. Juice's little sister had a crush on the Tacoma killer. Ana wondered what they would think about that.

"So, what do you think about him being a Son?" Ana asked. It wasn't a weird question to ask. After all, there was a charter in Denver, so it's not like Jenni was a stranger to it.

Jenni pursed her lips sourly. "I don't like it," she said. "Juan was in a gang back in Queens, too, until he saved someone's ass by taking the fall for them. The only reason he wasn't killed was because the leader had respect for Mom. Juan still can't go back to Queens because of it. He couldn't even be there when they buried her. So I don't understand why he would jump from one gang to the next."

Jenni took a deep breath, then continued.

"I mean, okay, the Sons aren't a gang. But still, Juice had so much going for him. He could have gotten the fresh start. He's really smart. Computers are his thing, you know? The boy could have gone to fucking MIT but he just joins up with a motorcycle club? And they're known for bad shit? I love him, but I just don't understand him. But he's happy, and he said he's trying to stay out of jail, now. It's another reason they're on the road. He's not happy with the way things are in Cali."

That had Ana's attention. What was going on in Charming that had Juice wanting to take a break from it all?

* * *

><p>Two weeks later, as promised, Juice and Happy returned. Ana was at the apartment when they did, contacts in place as always. Happy still had her under scrutiny, so she tried not to meet his eye too much.<p>

The first day they were back went by without incident. They all watched movies with the kids, and Ana tried to be as quiet as she could. Juice made small talk with her, and she tried to return it, even if it broke her heart. He had no clue she was there. In his mind, she was Amber, his little sister's friend. He was kind to her, just like he had been when they'd first met.

How could she not have fallen for him then? Ana had the opportunity to see him through a stranger's eyes, and she could see the goodness that was there. He had a haunted look in his eye at times, and Ana didn't know if that was put there by her, the prison sentence, or something else. But he hid it well, and he was adorable with his nieces. They called him Uncle Orange Juice, which he took with a stupid grin on his face.

She noticed he had a new patch on his kutte that said "Men of Mayhem". Only a few others had that flash, and Ana couldn't help but wonder how he'd gotten his. Did it have something to do with whatever was going down in Charming?

Soon, everything became too much for her to deal with, so she told everyone goodbye before she lost it in front of them again.

She got home and tried to control the tears that seemed to be coming more and more lately. She knew her time was running out, and she'd be discovered soon. She just hoped she could avoid Happy and Juice for the rest of their stay.

However, that didn't exactly work out. It had been Jenni's night off, and Ana had been busy at work, when it all went to hell.

"Bartender!"

Shit. She knew that raspy voice. She looked down the way and saw Happy standing there, looking at her as if he knew. She was hoping he didn't, but something told her there was no getting around him tonight.

"Happy, right?" she asked. "What can I get for you?"

"The truth," he said cooly. "With a beer or two on the side."

Fuck.

She looked around, and as if Happy read her mind, he shook his head. "Just me tonight. Juice is watching his nieces."

"Give me a minute," she told him, defeat in her voice.

* * *

><p>Happy was waiting behind the club when she walked out the door, Juice's hoodie over her work clothes. What was the point of hiding it now? Happy knew, and soon, Juice would know, too.<p>

"Do you have any idea how bad I want to kill you right now?" he asked when he saw her.

"I can guess," she said, glumly, taking off her wig and letting her hair flow free.

"Yeah, that shit was useless," Happy said, gesturing to the wig." I know you, Ana. And if Juice wasn't too wrapped up in this bullshit with his sister, he would have known you from the moment you lifted that pretty head the first night you knew we were in town," Happy said. "Why'd you leave like that?"

Happy knew why, but she knew that he wanted to hear it from her. He was pissed at her, even if Juice wasn't. Maybe Juice was, now. It had been weeks since he tried to call her, after all. Maybe he was starting to resent her, too.

"It's complicated-"

"FUCK complicated. You broke his fucking heart!" Happy yelled, throwing his beer bottle at the wall and making Ana jump as it shattered. "You tore up everyone! You just left us like we were nothing!"

"Fuck you, Happy!" Ana screamed, pushing him backward. "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you! You guys weren't nothing,. You were everything to me! He was everything!" Ana pulled up the hem of her shirt and hoodie to display the tattoo there. Happy recognized the crow instantly, and saw the letters spelling out "Juan". He looked back at her tear stained face, and felt his anger leave his body. He knew what he'd said had been a low blow. Sure, he had a right to be angry, but that only meant he gave a shit about her. He didn't mean to hit below the belt.

"Ana," he said sadly, hugging her. "Listen, it's okay. I get it, you thought you were doing the right thing. But you know damn well we could have handled an asshole cop."

Ana shook her head as she sobbed.

"He hates me, doesn't he?" she asked.

Happy snorted as he pulled away from her. "Hell no. We're actually looking for you."

"I guessed as much," Ana said, hiccuping. "I told him not to."

"Does that boy ever do what he's told?" Happy asked, laughing a little as they sat on the curb. "It's been hell trying to find you, girl. We saw that you sold the Miata, but no one, and I mean no one, was willing to give you up. Nice job on the false trail to Seattle, though. Gemma would be proud."

"I was trying to think like her this entire time," Ana admitted.

"Yeah, well, she's going to kick your ass for using a redhead wig, sweetie," Happy said. "She hates reds for some reason."

"So how did you know it was me?" Ana asked as he smoked a cigarette. "What gave it away?"

Happy laughed. "The caught in headlights look. You gave it to me when I first met you, at Abel's party. You tried to hide it, but yeah. I may be quiet, but I notice shit."

"Damn," Ana said. "I thought I had all my bases covered."

"You did. You know how to cover your tracks, I'll give you that," he said.

Something was bugging Ana, something Jenni had let slip.

"Why'd Clay agree to let Juice and you come out here alone?" Ana asked. "It's not like him to let people go on field trips after some girl."

"First of all," Happy said, pushing her shoulder. "You're not just some girl. Secondly, that asshole was looking for weak links. He tried with Juice, he got to Miles, and then he tried to bait Juice by telling him that he was the reason you left. It almost worked, it took three of us to keep Juice from getting back on his bike and going to the police station."

"So Juice knows who Mark really is?" Ana asked. She felt a weight being lifted from her shoulders every second Happy talked.

"Yeah. He hated himself for not realizing it sooner. There's some bullshit going on in the club, and Clay told Juice to find you while they dealt with new business ventures. The boy was close to losing it. So, Gemma offered to come with him, but I told him I'd do it. I've been keeping him in check."

They sat in silence after that.

So Juice knew why she left. Everything. Yet he was still looking for her, risking being sent back to prison, even if it was unfairly, just to get her back.

As always, Happy seemed to read her mind.

"We're not going to let that cop do that shit again," he said. "You should come home. It's not the same without you there."

Ana shook her head. "I don't know if I can go back."

Happy sighed.

"You need to tell him you're hear before we leave again. Or I will," Happy said, seriously. "There's no use in going on a wild goose chase when you're right under our noses."

Ana nodded. That much was true. She didn't know what she was going to do after, but she knew that she needed to let him know she was there.

"After work tomorrow. I promise."

* * *

><p>Juice was sitting up in the hotel when Happy came in, looking more relaxed than he had in weeks.<p>

"Hey," Juice said. "I think we should take off in the morning. Jenni's trying to get me to come to this masquerade thing at the club and I can't find another way out of it."

Happy shook his head.

"Nah. It'll be good," he said. "Besides, I need to get laid before we leave. I saw some seriously sexy women tonight."

"You mean, you didn't get laid? Then why are you so...zen right now?" Juice asked as Happy got on his own bed. He shrugged as he took his boots off.

"Something came up. Had to deal with it," he said. Juice decided not to press the issue when he said that. It sounded like Hap killed someone, and he was the only man who could be relaxed after something like that.

"Alright," Juice said. "One more night, then I'm taking off."

* * *

><p>"You want to run that shit by me again?"<p>

Ana had the decency to look ashamed as Jenni stared at her as if she'd never seen her before. In all honesty, she hadn't. Ana had tossed the wig and the contacts that morning before going to Jenni's house. She decided to tell Jenni the truth first, before finding Juice to tell him.

"I'm the girl your brother's looking for," Ana repeated, then ducked as a shoe was thrown at her head.

"My brother's been here off and on for a month, and now you're telling me this shit!?" Jenni asked angrily, taking off her other shoe. "He's been looking for you and you just decided to let it out now? Why?"

"Because Happy figured it out a long ass time ago," Ana said. "I told him not to look for me!"

"Yeah, well my brother doesn't listen well!" Jenni cried. "Why did you continue to hide?"

Ana shrugged, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I thought he hated me. I hated myself after I saw his face. I did that to him, and I didn't want to face that just yet."

"Juice loves you," Jenni said, calming down and putting her shoes back on. "A blind man can see that. Jesus, Ana, I thought he was an idiot, but wow. Tell me everything."

Ana did. For two hours, Ana told Jenni everything. Moving to Charming and the reasons why, meeting Juice, falling in love with him, then Mark's threats and the stint in solitary that he'd forced Juice into when Ana told him she wasn't leaving.

"Holy shit," Jenni said, when Ana had finished. "That...that's rough. But seriously, you should have just told-"

"I know," Ana said. She'd heard it from Happy already. "I'm telling him tonight after the masquerade. I hate Tiki for making me go, by the way."

"He thinks you need a social life, chica," Jenni said. Then she smiled brightly. "Girl, you know this means I'm practically your sister in law, right?"

Ana laughed and shook her head. "Don't get your hopes up. I don't even know if he wants me back."

"You never left, girl," Jenni said. "Seriously, the way he talks about you, it reminds me of how Arturo used to talk about me. He'll be mad for a while that you didn't tell him when he got here, but he'll get over it. Believe me."

Jenni stood up happily and hugged Ana. "Come on. I have the perfect dress for you to wear tonight."

Ana followed Jenni to her closet, and couldn't help but smile. After tonight, there would be no more secrets. No matter what, Juice was going to know the truth. Whatever happened after that would remain to be seen.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Okay, I will say you guys are in for a treat. I'm still writing the next chapter, but it is the reunion one. I chose for a masquerade because I had a dream about Theo Rossi wearing a Zorro-style mask and since I'm a giver, I figured I'd give you all the mental image as well. <strong>_

_**Get your tissues ready folks, because shit's about to get deep. **_


	9. Chapter 9

Ana sat at one of the tables, nervously glancing around as Jenni worked the karaoke set.

She hated Tiki right now. She didn't want to be here, in a fancy dress and an irritating mask. Wearing heels that Jenni lent her, knowing that she could break her neck in them.

Still, the place looked fantastic. The fog machines were going, and everyone was dressed up and masked out. The mystery in the air was a very exciting feeling, and Ana knew a lot of people were getting laid tonight.

Whereas she didn't even know if she was going to make it through the night. She planned on talking to Juice after the party, and she didn't know how much he'd changed in prison. Pre-prison Juice would probably be mad and leave without saying anything. Post-prison Juice, the one who had a Men of Mayhem flash on his kutte...she didn't know what that Juice was capable of. And that was her fault, since she didn't stick around to find out.

God, she was a horrible person.

"Wanna dance?"

"No thanks," she said.

"Come on, I'm the best you're probably going to get tonight," the guy insisted.

Ana rolled her eyes. Great, a cocky bastard, who was probably going to use the nice guy excuse. "That's not helping your case."

The guy began to say something else but was stopped when he was pushed aside by another one. This one was wearing a Zorro style mask with a fedora on his head. He wore a black long sleeved shirt with black jeans, and the look in his eyes as he stared down the creep was spine tingling.

"She said no," Zorro man said. "Get lost."

Fuck, that voice. Juice did come tonight, and he was standing right in front of her, with no way to get away. She could still try.

"Thanks," she said, trying to move past him quickly, but his hand caught her arm.

"Amber, right?" he asked, sitting down at her table, and gesturing for her to sit back down. "Can't tell with the masks."

"You're Jenni's brother," she said, sitting without answering his question. "I can tell because you're hiding the tattoos with the hat."

He touched the hat and grinned guiltily.

"They freak some people out," he explained. "Figured if I hid them, I'd be considered more approachable."

Ana rolled her eyes.

"Trying to catch someone's eye tonight?" she asked, keeping the venom out of her voice.

Juice shook his head and gave another guilty smile.

"Not really," he said. "My sister and friend are trying to get me to, though. Said maybe if I got laid, I'd feel better, but that's not really going to happen," he said.

"Sex doesn't fix much," Ana replied. "That's why I haven't even bothered."

Juice laughed and tipped his can of soda toward her in respect before draining it. He looked back at the DJ booth, then back at Ana with a grimace.

"Look, my sister is going to kill me if I don't dance with someone," he said plainly as a slow song began to play. "So please help me out?"

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck, Ana thought. Don't nod. Don't fucking nod. You cannot do this.

She nodded, and her mind cussed at her the entire time he led her to the dance floor.

"Nice dress," he said as he placed his hands on her hips.

She had to agree. Jenni had lent it to her. It was black, lacy, fitted through the bodice until it flowed from her hips to her feet. It was slightly off the shoulder, and the entire back was see through. Her mask was a gold and black number, and her hair was pinned up into a fancy sort of updo. She'd forgone the wig and contacts tonight, because she'd planned on telling him the truth.

"Thanks, your sister let me borrow it," she said, not looking in his eyes as they swayed back and forth, She knew if she did that, he would know, and she wasn't ready to tell him yet. She'd counted on another couple of hours before that point of reckoning.

"You know, I can relate to you," Juice said sadly. "Lost love and all that shit."

"Who'd you lose?" Ana asked, not knowing if she wanted to hear this.

"Love of my life," Juice said plainly. "Something spooked her while I was inside. She left me a letter, and was gone in the wind by the time I got out."

"Maybe she couldn't handle the life?" Ana asked carefully.

"No. It's deeper than that. She loved me as much as I loved her. But she fights some serious demons, and one of them won a battle."

Ana got curious at his explanation. No way was he about to blame himself. No, he couldn't be doing that.

"That demon only won because I wasn't there to protect her, so maybe it was my fault," Jucie said, more to himself than to her.

He was blaming himself! As if Ana didn't feel shitty enough.

"It's not your fault!" Ana said, and, forgetting her cover, she looked at him, dead in his eyes for the first time in almost a year. His eyes widened in recognition and she realized her mistake. "Shit, I-"

Juice's eyes widened with recognition, but before he could regain his composure, she bolted, with him calling after her. She kicked off her heels as she moved through people, and tried to find her way to the back exit near the bathrooms. She found an opening in the crowd and ran through it, relief flooding through her body. The hallway leading to the emergency exit was empty and she headed toward it. She got the door open and ran out into the rain.

"Stop running!" she heard him say behind her.

Ana was startled at his voice, and stumbled and fell to the ground, where she stayed, sobbing. Her time was up. He was angry at her and was definitely about to let her know.

She heard him rush over to her, water sloshing at his feet.

"Shit," he said, kneeling down and helping her up. "You alright?"

Ana only nodded, still sobbing. He tore off his mask and reached behind her head and untied hers, the rain pelting on them as he did. When the mask was off, Juice sighed in relief before the anger filled the lines on his face.

"Come on, we're not doing this here," Juice said. "Where's your car?"

Ana just pointed to a silver Mustang, and Juice rolled his eyes. He hated Mustangs, but hey, it wasn't his choice as to what car she drove.

"Keys?" he asked as they got to it. She handed them over, thankful Jenni had the common sense to add pockets to the dress. She quickly got in the passenger's seat. Juice got behind the wheel and fiddled with the GPS for a minute, until he found her home address. Then they left, both not saying a word the entire ride.

* * *

><p>Juice sat on the couch as he waited for Ana to get out of the shower. He insisted for her to take one, because of how cold the rain had been. He wasn't about to have this conversation with her shivering.<p>

Ana came out timidly, still keeping her head down. She leaned against the wall, keeping as much distance between them as she could. Juice just stared at her for a minute.

She was still so beautiful. She'd gotten thinner while she was away, and looked tired and worn out. There were bags under her eyes, and he guessed that she'd been having trouble sleeping, too. But still, Juice thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

"That one of mine?" he asked, gesturing to the black T-shirt she was wearing. She just nodded, her head still cast downward.

"Look at me," he said lowly. She sighed and looked up at him. Juice swallowed the lump in his throat as he took in her face. So many emotions flew through his mind as he studied her, a face he hadn't seen in seven months. He'd been looking everywhere, and she'd been with his sister.

"Come sit over here," he said. "It's kind of insulting that you're afraid of me."

Ana sighed and sat at the end of the couch, knees drawn to her chest as she did. Juice shook his head at her hesitancy, but figured that was as good of a start as he was getting right now.

"I only have one question," he said. "Why?"

"I had to-"

"No. Why didn't you tell me who you were, when you saw me two weeks ago?" Juice asked angrily. "Did you really not know I was looking for you?"

"I told you not to!" Ana cried out desperately.

"In what world have I ever given you a reason to believe that I would just take shit like that sitting down?" Juice asked, a little loudly. "You had to have known. Why else would I have been in fucking Denver?"

"There's a charter here, so I thought it would be because of them! Plus I know that you came to Denver because of Jenni, not me. In what time did I ever mention Denver being a possible place for me to come stay?" Ana asked. Juice stopped for a minute...she had him there.

"Okay, then," Juice said, conceding that point. "Why didn't you tell anyone about that fuckface in Charming?"

"I don't know," Ana replied. "I know I was stupid. Happy told me that much last night-"

"Happy fucking knew?" Juice asked, outraged by now. "How long?"

"I don't know."

"Don't insult my intelligence by lying, Ana," Juice said. Ana's face fell when she remembered the same words she'd told him, back before everything changed.

"I don't fucking know how long her knew," Ana replied, hotly. "He confronted me last night. Said he wanted to kill me at first."

They were silent for a moment as Juice processed the information.

"You left because you got scared," Juice said. "And I get that, but you not telling me who you really were? That shit makes me believe that you moved on, you wanted me to leave without knowing you were here."

Ana looked at him, anger filling her every feature, and before she knew it, she stood up, and faced him. Juice was a little frightened now at how feral she looked. He had a feeling he'd just cornered a wounded animal and he was about to pay for it.

"Really?" she asked. "You really think I've moved on?"

Before Juice knew what she was doing, Ana lifted her shirt to just under her breasts. His eyes immediately caught the tattoo that the artist in Reno had to have done. It was a crow, with purple flowers creeping up the wings. He didn't focus on that, though. The name inside the space between the wings were what stood out to him. It had his real name. Juan. Not Juice, but Juan. The other Old Ladies, they had the nicknames tattooed on them. The club names.

"You are literally in my skin," she said tearfully, as he continued to stare at the tattoo. He was speechless, and paralyzed. He couldn't move or look away.

"Why Juan?" he finally asked as she pulled the shirt back down and sat back on the couch, a little closer to him this time. "You have Juan. Not Juice. Why?"

"Juice is the person you are with the club. I love you both, but Juan is who you really are, and who I want to have in my skin for the rest of my life," she said, sitting back down. Juice sat down, too, so many more questions running in his mind.

"I miss you," he finally said softly, reaching over and taking her hand. "I do. I miss you so much it's hard to breathe sometimes. It hurt me so bad when I saw that you left, Analis. Then some asshole...Corcoran, he mentioned your name. Said you were old friends. So I did research, and I found out who he really was, and that's when I knew for sure...you didn't ditch us. You were trying to protect us."

Ana nodded glumly. "I was stupid," she said.

"No," Juice said. "What you did was pretty dumb. You weren't stupid because you felt like you were doing the right thing."

"At least you understand," she said. "Is that all?"

"No?" Juice asked. "I still have shit I need to say."

"Yeah, I'm sure you do," Ana said. "But I've broke my own heart these past seven months. If you do it, you'd probably be killing me as sure as putting that gun in your jeans to my head would."

Juice looked at his hand that was still in hers and jerked it, pulling her closer to him.

"What about my heart, Analis?" he asked. "You think you shutting me out AGAIN is going to do anything to heal that?"

"You'll move on," Ana shot back. "I'm sure you already have."

Juice grabbed her hands and pressed them to his chest. "You feel that?" he asked darkly. Ana looked down as she felt his heart beating under her hands and nodded. "That's yours. First time we fucked, I told you, you had every part of me. That's still true."

He pulled her face up so he could look into her eyes.

"I don't know what you plan to do. If you want to come back to Charming, or stay here in Denver, or go to fucking Madrid. But I know that I'm not giving up on you. I fucking love you, Ana," he said before crashing his mouth down on hers. Ana moaned as his kiss took the breath from her body, and it was so familiar it brought tears to her eyes.

Juice could feel her tears, and put one hand around her waist as the other tangled itself in her hair, pulling out the hair tie so it fell past her shoulders.

"And that was a stupid fucking wig two weeks ago," he said, pulling away and running his hands through her hair. The feel of it made his heart hurt, and he looked into those familiar brown eyes as she cried.

"You still want me?" Ana asked breathlessly as he caressed her face.

"You fucking know I do, babe," he said, drawing her closer and kissing her again, his kiss hot and punishing. "I always will want you."

She kissed him back just as passionately. She pressed close, all of her curves against his lean lines. His anger faded away as he held her, and his hands brushed over her body as though he thought she might run away again at any second. Their tongues fought each other as their mouths fused together. It was the sweetest homecoming Juice had ever tasted. She laid back on the couch bringing Juice with her, kissing him as if she'd never get enough of him. As if it was the last time she'd ever get to do so again.

"I did it for you, baby," she said between kisses. "I didn't want you back in jail."

"I know, babes" he muttered back, kissing her sweetly as he sat up and pulled her with him. He could felt her shaking in his arms. He wiped away the tears on her face, ignoring the ones coming from his own eyes. He placed a kiss on her forehead, and sighed.

"I love you so much," he whispered.

"I love you, too," Ana sobbed softly into his shoulder. "And I am so, so sorry."

* * *

><p>They spent the rest of the night talking about what they'd missed while she was gone. Ana learned about how he'd been shot saving Chibs's life,which was how he got his Mayhem patch, and how Clay had secured a deal with a drug cartel. Tara was receiving death threats, drive bys were happening at the garage. Head were literally rolling. Charming had quickly gone to hell after their release.<p>

"There's something else you need to know, too," He said, stroking her hair as she laid in his lap. The sun was coming up and they were still on the couch, having forgotten time completely.

"What's that?" she asked, fighting sleep.

"Corcoran, he tried to blackmail me, too."

Ana sat up in shock. "What?" she asked, in disbelief. "What does he have on you?"

"Easy, tiger," Juice said, grinning at the look on her face. "It didn't work. He found out my dad was black, which goes against club rules. But I took it to the club anyway."

"You didn't!" Ana said in disbelief.

"I did. They said it didn't mean shit. I was Puerto Rican according to my birth certificate, and that I wasn't going anywhere," Juice said.

Ana smiled, then quit when she remembered what he'd said.

"Why do I need to know if your dad was black?" she asked, confused.

"In case you had a problem with that thing," Juice said, his face betraying the moment when he realized what an idiotic statement that was. "Which you don't."

"No, dummy, I don't," Ana said, kissing his cheek as his phone rang

"Yeah?" he asked, yawning. "No, haven't been to sleep yet, bro. Yeah, I'm with Ana, shithead. Thanks for telling me."

Juice listened for a few minutes before laughing. "No, we haven't killed each other. I don't know, we'll talk about that after we get some sleep...dude, is that...IS THAT MY SISTER? I'm kicking your ass Happy Lowman-shit," he said, looking at the phone. "He hung up."

"He's with Jenni?" Ana asked, giggling a little as he sat back down, frustrated.

"Yeah," Juice groaned, stretching his legs in front of him. "I'm too tired to talk about it."

Ana laid back down, with her head in his lap, and he looked down at her and smiled a little.

"So, what now?" he asked groggily.

"I don't know, Juan," Ana murmured. "Lemme sleep on it."

And sleep she did. She slept comfortably for the first time since leaving Charming, finally feeling like a whole person again.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Just a bit of a warning before we get in this: this chapter is like 90% smut. Come on, we're due for it. I actually got inspired for this in the hospital, so I hope you enjoy.**_

Juice woke up a few hours later and looked around, confused for a brief moment. He thought for a quick, horrible second that last night was a dream, and he still had to search for Ana. However, as he looked around and saw traces of her throughout the almost bare apartment, he realized it wasn't a dream. He'd found her. They'd talked, they'd argued, then they kissed and made up.

Right now, she wasn't in the living room. Stretching as he got up, Juice went to look for her. He heard someone on the phone in her bedroom, and he stopped in the doorway to watch and listen.

Ana had a worry line between her eyes as she listened to whoever it was on the phone. She was in a bra and jeans and Juice couldn't help smiling at the tattoo on her rib cage. As she had explained last night, it wasn't a crow, but a raven. She wasn't connected to the club, she was connected to him.

However, as he looked closer, he sucked in a breath when he realized that he could actually see most of her ribs. Juice took advantage of her distraction to steal another long look at her. Her face was gaunt, and her collarbones were a bit more prominent. His first thought was drugs, but then he realized that wasn't it, Ana was never about that life. Which only meant she wasn't eating right, and that tore Juice apart even more. He knew she was the one who left, but if she was that unhappy where she wasn't eating, then he felt responsible to make sure she got right again.

"I know...yeah. Yeah, thanks, Gem...I'm really sorry...I'm okay, it's not your fault so I wish everyone would stop blaming themselves. I was stupid...okay. Tell everyone I'll see them soon, then? Okay, thanks. I love you too. Bye," Ana was saying before she hung up.

"Gemma?" Juice asked, leaning against the door frame and quirking an eyebrow."That sounded better than I expected it to be."

Ana shrugged and pulled on another shirt. Smirking a bit, Juice walked over, tugged it back off and pushed her back on the bed. Skinny or not, this woman still could turn him on like no other, and seeing that tattoo, with his name in her skin, was one big aphrodisiac to him.

"Juice, I got to work-"

"You can be late," Juice murmured, his hands lightly touching the tattoo on her stomach. He traced the wings softly, and then did the same to each letter of his name. He placed soft kisses on each of the flowers that was resting in the feathers of the raven, earning a soft sigh from Ana.

"You didn't have anyone else?" he asked, moving his lips up to her neck as he got in between her legs.

"No," she moaned as he nipped the skin near her collarbone. "You?"

"Hell no," he said, pulling away to pull off his shirt. Ana bit her lip at what she saw. Juice was fit before he went inside, but now he was nothing but muscles. His abs, his pecs, his biceps, they were all well defined now.

"Wow," she said, running a finger across his abs in awe. "Working hard?"

"Yeah," Juice said, shrugging before pushing her back on her back and pulling her pants off expertly. "But babe? I know now's not the best time, but this," he said, gesturing to her body, which was practically skin and bones when it was once curvy and fit. "It's not right. You need to eat, because seeing you like this scares the shit out of me."

Ana nodded, biting back the tears. Juice was right, she'd gotten way too thin. In the months she'd been gone, she'd dropped 20, almost 30 pounds. She'd barely eaten, and when she did it wasn't much.

"You're still beautiful, baby girl," Juice said, sitting back on his heels and pulling her to a sitting position. He kissed her softly to make his point, then he looked into those eyes he'd missed so much. "You always will be beautiful to me. But I don't like this. You need to be healthy, okay? You need to take care of yourself."

Ana nodded and gave him a watery smile. Juice grinned back and pushed her back onto her back. He trailed kisses down her stomach, trailing his fingers around the tattoo, not being able to get enough of it.

"I really should get to work," Ana moaned as he ripped her panties off of her. She giggled, remembering how he preferred to get her naked, and decided not to bitch him out this time.

"I can think of twenty better things to do that don't involve rich yuppy frat brothers ogling what's mine," Juice said, pulling off his own jeans and getting on his knees in front of her. He put her legs over his shoulders and brought her closer. Smiling, he placed two fingers inside her while slowly licking her clit. He pulled away for a brief moment. "Because you are fucking mine, Ana Lewis."

"Jesus fuck, Juice!" Ana gasped as his tongue flicked across her clit again. She fisted her hands in the sheets and groaned as his tongue worked its magic. It had been too long since she'd had this. Way too long, and now she didn't even give a fuck about work, as long as he didn't stop doing what he was doing.

Juice continued to crook his fingers just right as his tongue made lazy circles around the swollen nub, and he smiled as her gasps turned into loud moans when he took her clit in between his teeth. He winced when her fingers dug moons into his scalp, and he stood up right before she came.

"Why'd you stop?" she whined as he pulled off his boxers.

"Because," he said, a bit of a growl in his voice as he got in between her legs again. "I need to be in you, and I need it now."

He pressed his mouth to hers, and when she went to place her hands on his face to kiss him deeper, he grabbed both wrists and pinned them to the bed. He pushed deep into her, swallowing her loud gasp with a hard and passionate kiss.

"You love me?" he grunted as he pulled out.

"Yes," she moaned as he slammed into her again. She struggled a little against his grip, and he lessened it, though not letting go completely

"You're mine?" he asked, fire in his eyes. Ana shivered with how intense his gaze was and nodded.

"Say it, baby," he said, teasing her with rubbing his dick across her aching slit.

"I'm yours," she gasped as he pushed deep into her again.

"Damn right you are," he said, burying his face in her neck as he proceeded to fuck the hell out of her. He captured both of her wrists in one hand as his other arm went under her back to bring her closer to him.

This wasn't like the other times they'd had sex. This was hardcore, angry, I am still very pissed at you sex, and Ana loved it. It was raw and unadulterated, heated, and fiery. She cried out every time he pushed inside her, arching her back so he could get deeper and deeper.

Growling a little, Juice flipped her onto her stomach and proceeded to fuck her from behind in hard, unforgiving thrusts, Ana went to grab a pillow but Juice threw it across the room.

"None of that," he said, tugging her hair softly so she could look back at him. He still had that fire in his eyes, an angry lust driven look that nearly drove Ana to come right then and there. "I want to hear you. I've spent almost two years waiting for this, and I want to hear every moan, every whimper, every scream you make. And I don't give a damn if the whole damn world hears it."

Ana only nodded, knotting her hands in her sheets as he pushed inside again. She was close to her breaking point, and she knew when she came it was probably going to be heard throughout the entire hallway. Juice flipped her back onto her back and placed her legs on his shoulders before going back at it. He continued to slam into her, reveling in the gasps and moans that escaped from Ana. Every bit of anger he'd had toward her was put into each thrust, and it wasn't long before she was having a powerful orgasm, screaming his name as her nails rakes scratches down his back. He wasn't too long after her, collapsing as he came down from his own release.

"Shit," he said, after catching his breath and realizing he hadn't worn a condom. "Babes, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Ana murmured, rubbing his head softly. "I went on the pill before I left Charming. Was hoping to surprise you."

Juice grinned a little and kissed her sweetly before rolling off of her. She laid her head against his chest and he put his arm around her, stroking her naked back.

Ana smiled as she thought back to what just happened. That was something new, something she wanted to happen again. Juice's possessiveness and dominance was unexpected, but definitely not unappreciated. It wasn't that she didn't love when he was sweet in bed, because she did, but she liked this dangerous side, too.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" Juice asked in concern when he saw the bruises around her wrists and the dark purple hickeys on her neck. "I didn't mean to-"

"It's a good hurt," Ana reassured him with a sexy little grin as she sat up. "I love being sore after we fuck, babe."

Juice gave her that cocky grin as she got out of bed, taking the sheet with her. She looked back at him, the coy smile still on her face.

"I'm going to take a shower. You just going to lay there or are you going to join me?"

Juice fell out of bed from how fast he reacted. Ana laughed and Juice chased after her, happy as shit that he finally had her back in his life.

* * *

><p>They didn't even make it in the shower. Once in the bathroom, Juice pulled Ana into his arms, kissing her deeply. The kiss was slow, deep, and sweet. With no words, he lifted Ana up onto the counter and made love to her. No words were spoken to each other, it was all there in their eyes. He was hers, and she was his.<p>

Each time Juice went inside her was sweet and loving, a complete opposite to how was just a half hour ago. Ana wrapped her legs around him as he continued, resting her head on his shoulder and moaning as another orgasm hit her. Juice held onto her until she stopped trembling, then, with another sweet kiss, continued to his own release.

* * *

><p>After three more rounds of mind blowing sex, Juice and Ana were finally showered and clothed. They were laying on her couch, with a pizza in front of them and a movie on TV, when a knock sounded at the door.<p>

Juice got up and looked through the peephole, his hand on his gun he'd left at the table by the door. Sighing, he opened the door to reveal Happy and Chibs.

"Hey, boys," he said, showing them in. Happy gave Ana a small smile, which she returned.

Chibs, on the other hand, strode over to Ana, and pulled her up to hug her tightly.

"Oh, Ana," he sighed into her hair, tears in his voice. "You're okay."

"I'm sorry, Chibs," she murmured into his chest. Before she'd left, her and Chibs had become like father and daughter, and leaving him behind was another thing that broke her heart. She wasn't sure if she'd ever forgive herself for the damage she'd done to the people she loved.

"No, girly, I'm sorry. I should have known something was wrong that morning," Chibs said, pulling away and wiping his eyes.

"Will everyone quit blaming themselves?" Ana asked with a small smile. "It's my fault for not saying what Mark was up to. Next person to say it was their fault is going to get my foot up their ass. I'm fine. I'm going home next week, as soon as I get ends tied up here."

"What?" Juice asked, confused but delighted. They hadn't even discussed her coming back.

"Yeah," Ana said. "I talked to Gemma. She already knows, and is airing out my house, now. Someone didn't want to stay there."

Juice shook his head. He didn't even want to look at the pretty yellow house when he got out, much less step in it. Hell, he could barely drive by it.

"You're really coming back?" Happy asked, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Ana nodded and Juice grinned.

"Don't worry about that cop bastard," Chibs said as he and Hap took a seat. "We got in touch with Roosevelt."

"Eli?" Ana asked. She'd been on good terms with the sheriff before she'd left, but she didn't know about the rest of the club.

"Yeah," Chibs said. "Told him about the bastard on his force. Corcoran is no longer able to be involved with anything Son related, due to a conflict of interest. He was also told, in no uncertain terms, to keep the hell away from you." Chibs looked over Ana as he nodded her way and winced at how skinny she was. Gemma was going to have a cow when she saw Ana's figure. "Jesus Christ Annie, have you eaten at all?"

Juice nodded before Ana could speak.

"She's good, Chibs. We already talked about this," he said, putting his arm around Ana protectively.

As the boys talked about what had been happening in Charming, Ana felt almost complete for once. She found out about the cartel, and about how Tara was thinking of going to Oregon, and how much tension that was causing between her and Gemma. Chibs also mentioned that Clay wasn't the same lately, and he had a feeling there was going to be a vote for a change of leadership, whether it be through Bobby or Jax. Ima, the porn star Ana had had a run in with before she and Juice started dating, had been barred from the club completely, since she'd fucked Opie, even though Ope was married to Lyla. The actual reason she was banned was because she pointed a gun at Gemma, Lyla, and Tara as she left. Ana hung on to every word, so she wouldn't be surprised when she got back.

When the guys left, Juice sat down next to her and took her hand.

"You sure about this?" he asked. "If you don't want to go back, then-"

"It's home, baby," Ana said, laying with her head in his lap. "It's the place I think of when I think of home. It's where we met, where we fell in love. Our first kiss was in that elevator, remember? It's our place. I just wish I remembered that sooner."

Juice kissed Ana sweetly, and brushed the hair back from her forehead.

"I just want you safe, Analis," he whispered. "This shit with the cartel, I don't like it. I didn't vote for it, and I don't want you in their crosshairs. And the club seems to be falling apart again, and you saw what happened last time that shit happened."

A flash of Donna's laughing face happened in Ana's mind, combined with hearing Juice tell her they were locked up. It was true, whenever the club fell to pieces, the people around it got caught in the debris.

Still, Ana knew in her heart that she and Juice belonged there.

"You'll keep me safe, Juan," she said, caressing his face softly. "I just want us to go home. Start our life the way it's supposed to be."

Juice grinned.

"You got it, babe."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Every time I say I'm putting this on hiatus, inspiration strikes. <strong>_

_**So, last night, I got admitted to the hospital for chest pains. It was anxiety. It sucked. I'm better now.**_

_**Anyway, so yeah, this was mostly fluff. Hot, sexy, smutty fluff, and I enjoyed writing it. Mainly because there was a male nurse who resembled Theo Rossi a lot, and that's the one who got to put on all the chest stickers. *le sigh***_

_**I'm not really interested in putting Jenni and Happy together right now. Happy likes her and all, but I don't think he's ready to be an instant dad yet, if ever. And Jenni, although obviously attracted to him, wouldn't be as complying with the life as she needs to be, especially to be Happy's Old Lady. It's something to keep in mind for later, maybe the final installment.**_

_**So, next chapter is going to be them back in Charming. And not everyone is too happy to see her back. **_


	11. Chapter 11

The week following Ana's trip back home flew by. Juice had taken her Mustang to a dealer in town and came back with a red Maserati GranTurismo. Ana's jaw dropped when he pulled into the parking lot with a smug little grin.

"How in the hell can you afford that?" she asked when he reached her doorway.

"I don't like the cartel, but there's no doubt that it brings cash in," Juice said, shrugging. "Plus I kinda became a bit of a business man. I own twenty percent of a weed shop now. I used the money off that Mustang plus some of my personal money to get that for you. Consider it as a make up gift for the birthdays I missed. You like it?"

Ana nodded, smiling a little as she took in the beautiful car. Juice wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on top of her head.

"You're thinking loudly," Ana observed, and felt his chin twitch; a tell-tale sign that he was grinning again.

"I am, " Juice said, taking her hand and leading her back into her apartment. "I was thinking that before we get back to Charming, you and me could take a trip away from everything. One thing we never really were able to do was get some quality time alone, even before I went to jail."

It was true. Every time they'd been alone before he went to jail had either been rushed because they were on a schedule, or they were interrupted, or they had something weighing over their heads. Now, nothing was there to stop them. No threat of jail, no Gemma or the club asking them where they are every five minutes. Just Juice and Ana.

"Where'd you have in mind?" Ana asked as he wrapped his arms around her again.

"Well," Juice said. "I was thinking stopping in Yosemite for a few days before going back to reality."

"Yosemite, huh?" Ana asked as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Yeah. When I got out, I drove out there to clear my head, saw a few cabins for sale," Juice said. "I may or may not have bought one."

Ana laughed as Juice gave her a goofy grin, the first true one she'd seen since he found her. "So, you want to stop at this cabin?" she asked as his hands lowered down her body suggestively.

"Mhm," he said. "Be a good way to test out that car, especially since Happy loaded my bike on the truck with most of your stuff."

It was true. Happy, Jenni, and Juice had tried to up a small U-Haul truck with Ana's belongings, but it was so empty that Happy got frustrated and told Juice to ride back with Ana, and loaded Juice's bike in the uHaul.

"Sounds good babe," Ana said. "So you bought yourself a mancave."

"Nope," Juice said sitting down and bringing Ana down with him. "No, I've been thinking about a lot of shit lately."

"Like?" Ana asked, concerned.

Juice put his hands behind his head, a sign Ana knew well. It meant that whatever he had to say, he thought was big. Important, something that may cause some bullshit.

"I'm seriously considering patching out," he said. "I mean, once upon a time, the club was all I wanted. It was a brotherhood, it was my family. It was home, you know?"

"Yeah," Ana said. "But why are you thinking this now?"

"Because, I think the club's turned into something else," Juice said, getting up and pacing. "Clay's keeping secrets. Jax is leaving, and is doing whatever he can to make that escape. Him and Ope are fighting, Bobby and Clay are fighting, Piney's openly hostile to pretty much everyone. I never thought I'd say it but Tig is looking saner every day. Him, Hap, and Chibs are the solids. I was too wrapped up in trying to find you to be of much use to anyone."

Ana watched Juice, and shook her head. She still wasn't getting it.

"Right now, here with you," Juice said, stopping his pacing to look at her. "It's what home feels like now. I can relax, and not worry about having a gun in my face or a drug dealer trying to take me out. And the deeper the club gets into this drug shit, the more scared I am that you're going to get hurt."

He sat back down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. Ana leaned against him, noticing how stressed he was.

"I'm just saying, I'm starting to think that the club's bullshit isn't worth losing you," he sighed.

"Well," Ana said, pulling back to look at him. "I'm yours, babe. And whatever you want to do, I'll go with it. I don't want us apart again."

Juice squeezed her hand tightly and kissed her before heading outside, more than likely to call and tell Happy or someone their Yosemite plans. Ana laid back on the couch, still processing Juice's words.

If things really were that bad in Charming, then she didn't blame him for wanting to leave. As much as she loved SAMCRO, she could never wrap her head around the guy with the boyish face and sweet smile being a patched member. Juice deserved so much better than that, and all she wanted was for the man she loved to have a life he deserved.

* * *

><p>The week at Yosemite was amazing. Juice's cabin was beautiful, and the more time they spent together, the more convinced Juice was that Ana was it for him. They'd cooked together, they went hiking in the woods and gotten lost for a couple hours. They eventually made their way back and were so exhausted they'd fallen asleep on the couch.<p>

Unfortunately, vacation time was officially over, and it was time to head home for real. Juice drove, holding Ana's hand the entire time. She was singing along to some crappy 90's music while she looked out the window, occasionally shooting a heart stopping smile his way. She knew some people were mad at her still, mainly Tig and Tara, but she wasn't going to avoid facing them. Ana was back to the fearless badass Juice had fallen in love with. She brushed off Juice's comments about Mark making her life hell if she came back, and said that she wasn't letting that family scare her anymore.

Those thoughts came to Juice as they passed the "Welcome to Charming" sign. Ana squeezed his hand.

"We're going to be okay, baby," she said. "I'll deal with what I need to, but I'm not running again. I promise."

Juice kissed her hand and grinned as he pulled onto a familiar street.

"I think Gemma's cleaning your house," he said, noticing the SUV parked in the driveway. Ana smiled a little as Juice pulled in beside it, and hopped out of the car. Not waiting for Juice, she burst in to the house, and stopped short, noticing Gemma sitting on her couch, seemingly lost in thought.

"Jesus Christ, Gemma!" Ana exclaimed as she took in the woman's battered face. It was swollen, and she had several half healed cuts on her face. Juice walked in behind Ana, carrying the rest of their stuff in, and dropped it when he saw Gemma's face.

"Gem, who did this to you?" Ana asked, sitting next to her on the couch. Juice sat on the other side, taking in every mark on the matriarch's face.

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine," Gemma murmured.

"No, you're not, Ma," Juice said, taking her hand. "What happened?"

Gemma just smiled a little and kissed Juice's cheek as she processed the endearment.

"You brought her home," she said, nodding to Ana as she took Ana's hand. "You just focus on that, okay?"

Juice's jaw twitched, and his eyes met Ana's as they both came to the same conclusion. Gemma looked like this because of Clay. It had to be that. No other explanation made sense.

* * *

><p>Ana sat with Gemma at the hospital, still reeling from everything that Gemma had told her.<p>

Tara had been almost kidnapped on her way to Portland. Jax and the boys had been with her, going on a family vacation. The messed up part was that Clay had been the ones that hired the guys to do it. Gemma had gotten beat because she confronted Clay about it.

Tara's hand had been severely damaged, and they didn't know if she'd make a full recovery.

Ana spotted Jax coming over, then his eyes widened when he took in Gemma's battered face.

"Holy shit, Ma!" he said, touching her face gingerly.

"Not here," Gemma said. Gesturing to Ana, she led them into the chapel and took off her sunglasses.

Jax looked at Ana before looking back at Gemma. Ana just shook her head sadly, knowing that once Jax found out his stepfather did this to his mother, the only woman next to Tara he loved more than anything in the world, all hell was going to break loose.

Ana listened to Gemma talk about shit building up, then looked up sharply when Gemma said she'd crossed a line. Glancing over at Jax, she knew he had the same reaction he did.

"This is more than crossing a line, Mom," he said darkly. "I'm not letting this slide."

"No," Gemma said, grabbing his arm. "I'm going to handle this, Jackson."

Jax scoffed and Ana cleared her throat.

"How, Gemma?" she asked quietly. "Clay can't get away with this."

"Just let me handle this," Gemma replied, not taking her eyes off of her son. "Please."

Jax didn't say anything. He just walked around a bit, then looked back at his mother with a heartbreaking look. Ana squeezed Gemma's hand, knowing that Jax was struggling with trying to do what his mother asked while his own need for vengeance was waging war inside his mind.

"I'll stay with her today, Jax," Ana said suddenly. "If Clay shows up, I'll call you. I won't let him hurt her again."

"How'd you know about this anyway, Ana?" Jax asked. "Not that I'm not happy you're home, because I am. But how did you find out?"

"I was at their house when they got home. I figured it would be better to stay there," Gemma replied before Ana could answer. "Juice stayed up last night keeping a look out while Ana and I slept."

Jax smiled a little.

"I appreciate that," he said to Ana before looking back at his mom, his face falling again. "I'm so sorry."

"No," Gemma said, walking over and taking his hands. "It's not your fault, honey."

Ana saw Jax on the verge of tears, so with a word of apology, she walked out of the chapel. She couldn't handle Jax crying right now, much less handle him blaming himself for shit his psychotic stepfather was doing.

She decided to go visit Tara. If Tara really was angry at her, then she'd rather face that than Jax's tears.

* * *

><p>"Hey," Ana said, peering in the doorway at Tara. She was watching something on TV but turned it off when she saw Ana, and gave a big smile.<p>

"Ana, hey!" Tara said, stretching out her good hand for a hug. Ana, a little shocked, stepped into it and took the side hug with a smile.

"When'd you get back?" Tara asked as Ana sat down.

"Last night," Ana replied. "I was told you weren't too happy with me."

Tara shrugged.

"Getting your hand smashed in a van door tends to make you forget petty bullshit," she said. "You're really thin, Ana. Did you eat at all?"

Ana smiled at the concern in the doctor's eyes.

"Yeah, just not enough. Juice, Hap, Chibs, and Gemma have already gotten on me," she said. "I'll do better now that I'm home."

"Maybe you should have stayed," Tara said, her face falling. "Shit here has gone sideways."

"I heard," Ana replied as a knock sounded on the door. A blonde woman walked in with a huge bouquet of flowers.

"Can we have a minute, hon?" the woman asked Ana.

"No," Tara said as Ana went to leave. "What do you want, Wendy?"

Wendy, that sounded familiar to Ana. She took a long look at the woman, then recognized her as Abel's birth mother. The junkie whore, Gemma called her.

"I was just coming to visit. Running a program in your HR department," Wendy said, crossing her arms.

"I thought you were in Seattle," Tara replied.

"I was," Wendy said with a small smile. "Sober living. Moved back a couple weeks ago, got a job at the recovery center."

"Oh," Tara said, obviously impressed. Ana would be lying if she said she wasn't, either. "Good for you."

"Can I ask what happened?" Wendy asked, glancing at Ana every so often.

"Slammed my hand in a car door," Tara said softly. Ana wondered if Tara knew who was responsible for that yet.

"Shit, sorry," Wendy said. Ana narrowed her eyes as Wendy smiled again. "I heard about your son. I'm happy for you and Jax."

"Thanks," Tara said. It was obvious she was starting to get uncomfortable, too. "I'm not sure what to say here."

"Me either," Wendy said with a sigh. "I've just been waiting for the right time to reach out."

"Why?" Ana asked, raising an eyebrow. "Reach out for what? I mean, forgive me for intruding, but I've been around for three years and I've only seen you maybe twice. Why not try reaching out before then?"

"I needed to get my life straight first," Wendy said to Ana. "I'm not going to do my son any good being around and still tweaking-"

"My son," Tara said darkly. "You birthed him but I've been the one raising him. He calls me Mommy. And why do you think now would be the time to reach out?"

"I don't want to cause any trouble-"

"Then what do you want?" Ana asked, getting ready to defend Tara against whatever manipulative game this woman was trying to run.

Wendy looked from Ana to Tara, sizing them up.

"I want to see my son," she finally said.

Ana rolled her eyes at the gall of this woman.

"She's his mother," Ana replied, pointing at Tara. "She's the one who helped Jax and Gemma raise that little boy. She changed his diapers, fed him, raised him while his father was inside. He has thrived under her care, and if you want to try taking this to court then be my guest. I'm a very reliable witness to attest to that."

"I know she raised him," Wendy said, anger evident in her voice. "And I'm grateful she was there, but I'm back now, and I want to know my son. Legally, I'm still his mother. I may have given up custody, yes, but I never waived the right for Abel to know the truth."

Ana and Tara seethed as they glared at Wendy.

"My number's on the card," Wendy finally said. "Tell Jax I'll be in touch, because I'm going to get to know my son."

"Get the fuck out," Ana said, stepping forward. "Or I will throw your junkie ass out."

"Is that a threat?" Wendy asked.

"No, it's a promise," Ana said. "She's been through enough without your bullshit custody threat. Everyone has. So take your pretentious bullshit and get the hell out."

With a smirk, Wendy left, and Ana turned back to Tara, her heart racing with anger.

Tara just looked down for a moment, then with a cry, she flung her casted arm at the vase of flowers.

"Tara! Stop!" Ana cried, pushing the call button on the bed. "Someone get in here!" she yelled as she tried to stop Tara, who was now slamming her cast into the table and screaming. "Please! Someone help!"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Juice was with his brothers at a warehouse, all of them talking about retaliation for Tara's attack. Unfortunately, he could barely look at Clay without wanting to pound his face into hamburger for what he did to Gemma. Looking at Clay, he could tell Gemma fought back, and fought hard.<p>

It turned out the Irish were also worried about the rivalry between the cartels, but before they could learn more, Jax came storming in the barn. Juice took one look at Jax's face, and knew he'd found out about Gemma. His eyes met Jax's for a brief moment, and Jax nodded briefly before hugging him.

"Welcome back, bro," he said out loud. "Thanks for Mom," he added in a whisper.

"No problem, man," Juice whispered back before pulling back, Clay eying them suspiciously. Jax shot him a death glare before looking back at the rest of the club.

"How's Tara doing?" Kozic asked.

"She's good," Jax said before looking back at Clay. "Give me a minute?"

"Sure," Clay said, walking out with Jax.

Juice watched the two leave the barn, and eased his way to the door, where he could keep an eye on things.

"You know the story there, brother?" Bobby asked, joining him with a joint.

"Some," Juice admitted. "But it's best if you guys find out on your own. It's really not my story to tell."

"How's Ana doing?" Bobby asked, taking Juice's explanation without another word. "I was hoping to see her sometime today."

Juice smiled a little, remembering her helping Gemma with everything this morning, then her kiss as she dropped him off at the clubhouse to get his bike.

"She's good. A little skinny, so don't harp on her for that," he said, taking the joint from Bobby's proffered hand and taking a draw from it. "She's not going to run anymore."

Bobby nodded as he took the joint back. "That's good to hear. I like the girl. She's good for you, always has been. This guy you are now? The club likes it. Respects it. Not supposed to mention it but Jax talking about leaving, he told me to consider you or Hap for the Seargant's patch when I get the gavel. Ope isn't wanting it, so it's going to me when Clay can't ride anymore."

"Chibs as VP?" Juice asked, biting the inside of his jaw.

"Yeah," Bobby said. "What you think?"

"I think it should go to Hap," Juice said honestly, watching the current President and VP talk. "The Sargeants patch, it should be Hap's. I'd say Tig, but I don't think he's feeling it these days. I'm happy being the intelligence officer."

Bobby regarded him with a glint in his eye.

"You know, anyone else says that and I think they're nuts, but you, Ortiz? I can see you being happy with that. You're a good guy, and power corrupts most of the good people. Don't want that happening to you."

"You're a good guy, too, Bobby," Juice said, confused.

"Nah," Bobby replied, finishing the blunt. "I've killed people, banged people I shouldn't, I can't support my kid. You, you're a better man than I am. Remember that."

Juice shook his head with a laugh. "Pretty sure that's the weed talking, man."

Bobby laughed as the Clay and Jax walked back over, both with looks of disgust on their face.

"You good?" Juice asked, falling into step with Jax.

"Yeah," Jax said harshly. "Sorry, just having to reign all this shit in right now. All I want is-"

"To put a bullet in between his eyes?" Juice asked darkly. Jax stopped and nodded, looking down at Juice.

"You surprise me every day, JC," Jax said, using the nickname he'd used as a prospect. "We'll talk about this later. We got shit to do."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Sorry if it was too dialogue-y. <strong>_

_**And this is going to be a two chapter kinda day. I'm going to try to finish Season 4 before I move (Thursday is the day), and I'll be ending that with a bang. I sent someone the gist of how this saga is going to end, because my anxiety got the best of me and I was scared I wouldn't make it out of the hospital. She won't spoil it, though, I have faith in her.**_

_**Thanks for reading and for your kind words both here and on Tumblr. I appreciate it!**_


	12. Chapter 12

Ana sat on a chair outside Tara's room as they wheeled her out, her legs shaking as she tried to control herself. Margaret was trying to calm her down when Gemma came up, looking worried as they wheeled Tara past her.

"Oh shit, what happened!?" Gemma cried, looking at the blood pouring from Tara's cast.

"Smashed her cast, gotta take her back to surgery," the doctor said. Gemma saw Ana shaking and headed over to her.

"I tried to stop her," Ana said hysterically. "I told her to stop, but she wouldn't, I tried holding her hand back but-"

"Some chick came with flowers," Phil said to Gemma when she looked up at him. "Tara said it was cool."

"It was Wendy," Ana said darkly. "Put some bullshit in Tara's head, taunting about how she wasn't Abel's real mom and how she was going to get to know him."

"I be damned," Gemma said, taking the card with Wendy's number on it and storming off. "Phil, make sure Ana gets home okay. I'll take care of this."

* * *

><p>Juice sat at the table, listening to the plan about going after the Lobos. It was about retaliation for Tara's attack.<p>

"I don't expect any of you to go if you don't want to," Jax said. "It's my shit, it's on me to handle it."

"Jax is right," Clay said. "This cartel thing's turned into one bloody ride. No one saw it coming, including me."

Juice bit back a scoff. Everyone saw it coming, most of all Clay. Bobby especially, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Bobby roll his eyes. Happy was having a hard time biting back a retort of his own as well.

"You're not doing this alone," Bobby said. "I'm not letting it happen."

"Me either," Chibs said. "I'm in."

"Me too," Juice said, and Bobby and Jax turned to him in surprise, and Happy lifted his eyebrow.

"Come on, man," Jax said. "Ana's home, go spend time with her."

"She's spending girl time with Gemma today," Juice said, sharing a look with Jax. Jax's eyes lit up with the meaning, and he nodded.

"Well I'm there, too," Happy said, glaring at Juice. "Promised that girl I wouldn't let your ass get hurt, and she has a gun. I don't want to go out being shot by a chick."

The table laughed at the thought of Ana, 5'3 at best, taking out the assassin. It was common knowledge he's alrady stared sown the barrel of her tiny Beretta once, it was not an experience any of them wanted to go through.

"Alright. Let's get out there. Get it done," Jax said, as Clay pounded the gavel.

* * *

><p>Ana pulled into the clubhouse to see the guys walking out in their hoodies, obviously ready to go do a job.<p>

"Holy shit, the prodigal daughter returns," Bobby said, walking over and hugging her. "Nice ride, sweetheart."

"Hell yeah it is," Kozic said, hugging her next. "How you been, Ana? We missed you around here."

"I'm good, guys," Ana said, with a big smile on her face. She shrugged as Tig passed her by-they hadn't been really friendly with each other to begin with. She had missed everyone more than she'd cared to admit. She let Kozic inspect the Maserati as she talked to Bobby about everything. Bobby mentioned bringing some banana muffins to her place later, which Ana took to mean he was also worried about her weight loss, although was kind enough not to say so out loud. She met the new prospect, Ratboy, and greeted Filthy Phil warmly.

Opie and Juice showed up next, and Opie gave her a giant bear hug, which she returned with a happy sigh. He was one of the club members she'd missed the most. She loved them all, even Tig to a degree, but Chibs, Opie, and Happy meant a lot to her. They were like her big brothers; losing one of them would destroy her.

"Nice to see you again, hon," he said affectionately. "Nice wheels. Juice really outdid his self."

"Hey, my girl deserved the best," Juice said, kissing her cheek. "Now get lost, guys. Let me get a moment."

Ana laughed as the guys cleared out and he pulled her close to him.

"Hey babes," he said, kissing her sweetly.

"Hey yourself. Everything okay?" she asked.

Juice shook his head as he hoisted himself on the back of her car. He helped her up so she could sit next to him. They held hands as they looked at the mural along the concrete fence of the compound, enjoying the silence for a moment.

"We're about to go do retaliation for Tara's attack," Juice said. "Jax knows about Gemma."

"I know," Ana replied. "I was there when she told him."

They sat in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company for another moment or two before he had to go.

"I'm still thinking about it, you know," he finally said. "Patching out. Things are different, though. Bobby is probably getting the gavel. He asked me about Sgt, and I passed."

"It's up to you, Juan," Ana said, laying her head on his shoulder. "I'm with you, whether you're in the club or not."

Juice smiled a little, and squeezed her hand as Clay said it was time to go.

"I love you, baby," he said, kissing her once again.

"I love you, too," she said. "Come home to me."

* * *

><p>Ana was sitting in the clubhouse, sketching the reaper on the wall when she heard the rumble of motorcycles. She looked out the window and saw Juice get off his bike and walk with Chibs and Jax, talking about something. Whatever was said upset him, and he stormed into the clubhouse, not noticing anyone around him. Chibs and Jax came in, shaking their heads.<p>

"Hey," Jax said to Ana, "Go after him. He's upset about the shit that went down today, and he did something that made us all nervous."

"Like?" Ana asked.

"Prancing through a damn land mine field like a suicidal idiot," Chibs said. "We lost Kozic today."

"Shit," Ana replied, tears filling her eyes. She'd always liked that cocky bastard, and all she could think about was when he gave her a ride back to the garage the morning after Salazar took Tara. "I'm sorry, guys."

Chibs bowed his head for a moment as he squeezed her shoulder. Jax looked up and swallowed hard.

"Just go help Juice," he said. "He needs you."

Ana didn't need to be told twice. She walked into the dorm room and heard the shower on. She peered in and saw Juice still in his jeans, staring at the running shower with tears in his eyes.

"Juan."

He looked over at her and held out his arm. She walked over and wrapped her arms around him. He went still for a moment, before he leaned his head into her shoulder and cried silently. They told her about what he'd done. He knew they did.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I was an idiot. Wasn't thinking."

"You were grieving, baby," Ana replied, looking up at him. "Just don't do that stupid shit again, okay? I need you alive, not scattered all over a Mexican mine field."

Juice smiled down at her, loving the fire that was in her eyes. It had been too long since he'd seen that. He dipped his head and kissed her as he unbuttoned her shirt and pushed it off her shoulders.

"You got me babe," he said. "Now how about joining me for a shower?"

And with that, the discussion was over.

* * *

><p>The next couple days went by without much incident. The Irish were pissed the big guns were used, but Juice couldn't give much of a damn about it. After his incident with the mine field, Jax told him to stay away for a while, and to spend time with his girl. So he worked in the garage while Ana helped Gemma with the paperwork in the office, just like old times.<p>

However, Ana was feeling off lately. She was moody, though she tried to hide it. She was tired, and nauseated, and she felt like she was getting the flu.

Gemma noticed, of course, because Gemma noticed everything.

"You okay, honey?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Ana said, wiping her forehead. "Just probably the flu. You need me here? I'm probably just going to crash in the dorm room til Juice is ready to go home."

"Okay," Gemma said, waving her off. Juice came over as Ana walked to the clubhouse, watched her walk in worriedly.

"She okay, Gem?" he asked. Gemma shrugged.

"You been feeling alright? She thinks she has the flu," Gemma said. Juice shook his head as he pursed his lips.

"I've been fine, Gem," he said. "Maybe it's just her. Girl shit or something. I don't know. I'm pretty sure she's going to be okay."

"Yeah, maybe," Gemma said to herself as Juice went back to work. She wasn't so sure.

* * *

><p>It was late when Ana woke up. The sun had disappeared, and the room was dark. Ana groaned and turned the lamp on, to see a note by Juice on the pillow.<p>

_"Went to take Gemma home. Hope you're feeling better. I'll be back later, I love you. JC."_

Ana smiled but she knew something else had woken her up. She knew it in her gut, and she carefully grabbed the Beretta in her bag, and cocked it as she stood up.

Just as she did, she heard two gunshots come from somewhere inside the clubhouse. Gasping, she ran out, and headed toward the sound of the shots. She heard another one ring out and realized it was coming from the chapel. She opened the door just as Rat and Unser rushed in and she inhaled a sharp breath when she took in the scene.

Opie was on the floor, his hand bleeding. Jax had a gun in his hand and his eyes were at the head of the table.

Clay was there, shot twice in the chest and his breath sounds were shitty. Ana took everything in with wide eyes.

Jax saw her standing there and took control.

"Ana, go back to the dorm room. Call Juice, tell him Clay's been shot. Rat, call 911. Unser, get rid of the guns and blood."

"Who do I say shot him?" Ana asked flatly, still trying to take in everything.

"You don't," Jax said. "Say you don't know, okay sweetie?"

Ana was frozen so Jax placed both of his shaking hands on her shoulder.

"Ana, stay with me, okay, darlin?" he said softly. "Call Juice. Tell him Clay's been shot, you don't know by who. You need to get home. Okay?"

Ana nodded, and, with another look back at Clay, she ran back to the room to do what she was told. Juice told her he'd be there in a minute after she called him, and she hung up and sighed heavily as she processed what she just saw.

It looked like Opie or Jax had shot Clay, but that didn't explain Opie's hand. And why was Unser so fucking smug? Ana didn't like Clay at all these days, but she didn't want him dead. The only logical explanation was that Jax shot Clay, and Opie got caught in the crossfire, kind of. But then why was Jax so determined to get Clay to the hospital?

Ana was still trying to figure it out when Juice burst into the room. He pulled her to him, and it wasn't until he was trying to take it out of her hand when she realized she still hand her gun in her hand.

"Let it go, baby," he said, trying to pry it out of her fingers.

"It wasn't me," Ana said, loosening her grip so he could take the gun from her.

"I know, but Corcoran is here and I don't want to give him a reason to put you in jail," he said, putting the gun under a loose floorboard. "Come on."

Mark was here. That was just wonderful. Ana mentally gave Juice credit for hiding the gun, she wouldn't have thought of it. Of course Mark would find any way to trump up a charge on him or her, especially when he found out that she was back in Charming.

Juice seemed to be thinking the same thing as he took Ana's hand and led her into the rec area, where Eli and Mark were inspecting the clubhouse.

"Well well well, look who's back," Mark said snidely. Eli turned around and shook his head.

"Out," he said to Mark, venom ringing in his voice. Ana was shocked to hear it; did he know what Mark had done, too? It appeared so, because with a roll of his eyes, Mark walked out the clubhouse. Eli shook his head and smiled politely back at Ana.

"Welcome back, Ms. Lewis," he said. "I hope you're well?"

"Actually, she's not, sir," Juice said politely. "My girlfriend has the flu and I was hoping I could take her home?"

"Just one moment, Mr. Ortiz," Eli replied. "Ana, did you see anything?"

Ana shook her head, knowing that there was a reason Clay was carried outside. Whatever she thought she saw, this man in front of her couldn't know about it.

"Like Juan said, I've been sick. I was woken up by gunshots. I stayed in the room, didn't want any attention drawn to me," she said lowly.

Eli regarded her for a minute then shrugged.

"Alright then. I hope you get better soon. You two have a good night," he said.

Ana nodded and Juice led her out to her car. They spent the drive in silence, Juice holding Ana's hand as he drove, both thinking about what had happened that night.

"Baby," Ana said, as they pulled up to their house. "I know it wasn't black that did that tonight."

"Me too," Juice said. "But right now, it's not our problem."

They walked in, and settled on the couch. Juice put his arm around her shoulder as she leaned into him. He turned on the TV and settled on some movie channel before kicking off his boots.

Ana processed what he said. They didn't need to discuss it any further right now. Clay was in the hospital, fighting for his life. Given all he'd done, it wasn't like he didn't deserve it, but he was still a big part of their lives. She really didn't want him to die. Not this way.

"You still wanting to leave?" Ana finally asked. That option was looking better and better.

"Eventually," Juice admitted. "I'm going to talk to Jax tomorrow. Bounce it off of him. Me and you can go to our cabin in Yosemite, start a new life together there."

"That sounds nice," Ana said, watching the movie. A few moments later, Juice looked down and was shocked to see that she was asleep again, but he guessed she probably wasn't feeling that hot still. He picked her up and carried her to bed, and climbed in behind her. As he drifted off to sleep, he realized that he was about to make one of the biggest decisions of his life.

It scared the fucking shit out of him.

* * *

><p><em><strong>We're getting close to the end of Season 4, folks.<strong>_

_**Remember this story goes to the end of season 5. Then we move on to the final story in this trilogy, which I've named Forever Yours, Faithfully.**_

_**Thanks to the reviewers, the followers, the favoriters, and the silent readers. You guys are awesome. **_


	13. Chapter 13

Ana woke up the next morning feeling nauseated still. She barely made it to the bathroom before she was puking her guts up.

Juice woke up and heard her retching. He leaned back against the bedframe, worried about her. He had a feeling this wasn't some flu.

But before he could go check on her, his phone rang. With a look at the bathroom, he answered, keeping the conversation low. It was Jax, who was needing his help since Bobby had never come back from Stockton last night. It looked like Otto turned rat, due to Bobby and Luanne's relationship before her death. Tig had found out about the shooting, and had gone rogue on the Niners. Jax and Chibs were going to help him, and Jax needed Juice at the clubhouse to fill everyone else in on what happened the night before.

Juice hung up and went to the bathroom. He sighed as he saw Ana leaning against the tub, her skin pale and clammy as she sipped some water.

"Still sick, baby?" he asked, concerned.

All Ana could do was moan and nod.

Juice sighed and sat on the edge of the tub. "I'm sorry, amorcita."

Ana smiled a little at Juice's sweet endearment, and leaned into his knee.

"I'm probably going to go see Margaret when I visit Tara. See if she can see what's wrong," she said softly.

"You're probably worn out," Juice said, pushing away some sweaty strands of her hair as he turned the taps to the tub on. He grabbed her lavender bath salts and poured some in. "Just take a bath while I'm gone, and then if you're still feeling bad, go see Margaret. Let Gemma and Tara and the club handle their own shit. You just worry about you, okay?"

Ana nodded and smiled again as Juice kissed the top of her head.

"I've got to help Jax, okay? Tig's done some stupid Tig thing. I'll talk to you later."

Ana nodded, and as he left, she prayed everything was going to be okay.

* * *

><p>A few hours later Jax and Juice were on the roof of the clubhouse, waiting for the rest of the club to get back. He was listening as Jax told him the story behind what had happened. Piney was dead. Opie blamed Clay for it, and shot him. Jax shot Opie's hand before he could finish the job. The black story was a cover up, but they hadn't said if it was Niners. What Tig had pulled was stupid, and an innocent woman was killed.<p>

"Hey, Jax?" Juice asked after he was done. There had been a strained silence for a while as Juice had processed the information.

"Yeah, man?" Jax asked. He was already pissed off at Tig for going in blind at the Niners.

"You serious about leaving?" Juice asked. "Like, getting out of SAMCRO?"

Jax nodded, his eyes narrowing a little.

"Yeah. I get the feeling you're having the same thoughts?" he asked Juice.

Juice nodded, flicking the end of his joint down to the ground below.

"I don't know, Jax. I mean, I'm glad you considered me for the Sergeant's patch. I really am, but I'm not wanting a power position. I see what power does to people. Bobby even said that I'm too good for it, whatever that means. And lately, this club hasn't been the same. I feel more at home with Ana now than I do here. You told me that my family has to come second to the club once-"

Jax held his hand up, stopping Juice.

"That was before I had my own family, man," he said seriously. "That was some stupid shit I said. I'm sorry for saying it. Your family should always come before this club. Not like, her breaking a nail, but if she's having a baby and you're out on a run, then yeah, you should turn the fuck around and fly like a bat out of hell to see your kid come into the world."

Juice pondered that for a moment.

"Clay's time is over, dude," Jax continued. "It's going to be Bobby at the head of the table. He thinks the same way I do. I'm not saying you shouldn't go, Juice, but I'm also not going to stop you if that's what you want. I'm just saying that I think Bobby deserves a chance to make this club into what it once was."

"Thanks, man," Juice said. "I'll think on it, I promise."

They saw Gemma's car pull into the lot, and Jax sighed.

"Let me go see what my mommy dearest wants, now," he said. Juice chuckled and received a playful smack to the head as Jax went down. He stayed on the roof for a while, letting Jax's words sink in as the sun sank lower into the sky.

* * *

><p>Ana was sitting on the couch when Juice came home that night, exhausted but happier than he'd been in a few days.<p>

"I heard about what Tig did," Ana said.

"Hey, I didn't know you were still up, baby," Juice said. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Ana said, smiling a little. "So, what's got you so chipper?"

"Nothing, really. I have an amazing girlfriend I get to come home too, and that's reason enough to be happy as fuck," Juice said. He'd decided he wasn't going to tell her his decision until he was really sure. "You go see Tara?"

Ana nodded, the smile on her face sliding off her face. "Yeah. She came home today. Um, you need to sit down."

Juice sighed. That didn't mean anything good. He took a seat and handed her a cup of tea, which she took gratefully.

"That attack on Tara wasn't Lobos," Ana said quietly. "It was him. Clay."

Juice groaned loudly. "Son of a bitch. I had a feeling that Lobos story was bullshit. Clay killed Piney, too."

Piney was dead, too? Ana listened as Juice filled her in on what Jax had told him earlier.

"Gemma found out, that's why he beat her," Ana said after recovering from the shock. "Are we...are we going to be like that? Like them?"

"No," Juice said feverently, scooting closer to her and placing his hand on her knee. "No, because I don't plan on us getting involved in bullshit drama like the Teller Morrows do. I love them, I do, but their life is a fucking soap opera."

Ana laughed a little, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"It is, isn't it?" she asked with laughter still in her voice.

"Our business is ours, okay? I'm not putting our personal shit at the table anymore, Me going to find you was the only time I did that, and I don't plan on losing you again," Juice said. "So we're not going to be like them. I'd rather die."

Juice kissed her to seal that promise, and in that moment, he realized he wanted this woman to be in his life forever. And that there was something he was going to have to do soon to ensure that.

* * *

><p>Jax, Chibs, and Juice were all taken aback by what had happened at the barn the next day.<p>

Juice wasn't even supposed to go to this, but Jax and Chibs insisted, and besides, he was wanting to bounce some ideas off of them again. Happy didn't offer the type of advice he needed, and besides, the fact that Happy was currently screwing his little sister made things a bit uneasy between them. Juice knew how Happy was, and how Jenni was. Happy wouldn't be ready to take on an instant family, and Jenni didn't want to be committed to SAMCRO, or any gang or club in that matter. The shit in Queens had scared her for life.

But before Juice could tell Jax and Chibs what was on his mind, they were blindsided by the Irish, by them refusing to deal with the cartel without Clay. That combined with their obvious racism was enough to send anyone over the edge, so Chibs and Juice left the barn, to give Jax some space to talk things over with Romeo.

Chibs glowered at the ground as they waited.

"Heard you're thinking of leavin us, too, lad," he said to Juice as he lit a cigarette. "Everything okay?"

"Just disillusioned, I guess," Juice said. "Came back to all this shit going on. I spend more time wondering about what Ana's up to, and criticizing Clay's shitty decisions, it just don't feel right to me anymore. I ain't made a decision yet, though."

Chibs nodded and looked off into the woods.

"I get it, Juan Carlos," he said, and Juice knew it was time for a Filip Telford speech. "You're in love. You want to protect her from all that could ever hurt her, but have you ever thought that the only thing that will truly ever hurt her is losing you?"

"What do you mean?" Juice asked.

"I mean, you're SAMCRO. It doesn't run in your blood like Jackie Boy's, but you're a good man, and you want the old days back more than anyone, I think. Bobby's going to need you with him when Jax leaves. You're smart. Your old lady isn't in your head pulling you every which way like Gemma and Tara are doing to Jax and Clay. I know Ana, she's with you no matter what. You patching out, I don't think it's a life you want. You'd lose a big part of yourself, and that wouldn't be fair."

They were silent for a moment.

"Just let Bobby try," Chibs said, tossing the cigarette to the ground. "Help us get those days back, brother. You, me, Happy, Bobby? We're the best chance this club has at getting back to that."

"Ope and Tig?" Juice asked. "What about them?"

"Ope is probably done now," Chibs said. "And Tiggy? I love him, but he's got to control that hair trigger. I think Jax is done with him after that shit yesterday."

Juice could understand that perfectly.

"I'll think on it, Chibby," Juice said, grinning as he dodged Chib's punch. He noticed Jax coming out, looking angrier than ever, and sighed.

"Head on back, guys," Jax said. "I'll call you guys later."

"Wonder what that was about?" Juice said to Chibs as they got back on their bikes.

"We'll find out later. Come on. We'll find a bar and you can talk to me some more. I know it's more than the club that's on your mind."

* * *

><p>Ana grinned as she helped Abel paint a watercolor for his grandma. Tara was busy packing in the next room, and Ana was babysitting for her.<p>

"Will you finish when I'm gone, Aunt Ana?" Abel asked sweetly. Ana nodded.

"You bet, buds," Ana said, filling in one of the narrow lines for him. "Your grandma is going to love this."

They were interrupted by Jax coming in. He looked pleasantly shocked to see Ana on the living room floor with Abel, and gave her a warm smile.

"Hey, darlin," he said. "Having fun with Aunt Ana, buddy?"

"I painting, Daddy," Abel said with a grin that Jax returned.

"I see that. Where's Mommy at?" he asked. Ana and Abel pointed to the bedroom, not taking their eyes off the paper.

Ana looked up a few minutes later as Jax left, and he looked miserable. Trapped, and angry. Ana hadn't seen that look on anyone before, and it made her nervous.

She ran out after him.

"Jax!" she called out before he got on his motorcycle. "Did someone else die?"

Jax shook his head.

"No," he said. "Just some changes happening soon. Juice will fill you in, okay?"

Ana nodded, then inspiration struck.

"Let me take the boys tonight. You and Tara can get some alone time, and they can have fun with Uncle Juice and me tomorrow," she said, hopefully. Jax regarded her for a moment, then got off his motorcycle and came over, giving her a crushing hug.

"I am so glad you came back," he said, pulling away. "Sometimes I think you're the best damn thing that's happened in this town. Thank you."

Ana nodded, touched.

"So that's a yes?" she said, wiping a tear from her eye. Jax nodded, then got back on his bike.

"Yeah. Go tell them the good news," he said as he started the bike.

Ana walked back in to let Tara know, Jax's words still ringing in her ears.

* * *

><p>Juice stood with Happy at the door, waiting for Jax to wave them inside. Tig was already at the table, but not in his Sergeant's chair. That had been delegated to Chibs.<p>

Jax looked up at Happy and Juice, and gave them a smile, and nodded them inside. Happy grinned and took a seat beside Tig as Juice closed the door.

"This mean you changed your mind, brother?" Jax asked before Juice sat down.

Juice nodded.

"Yeah, man," he replied with a grin. He owed Jax a chance to change things. Chibs and he had made a point these past couple of days. He had faith that Ana would be with him no matter what, she'd told him as much when he talked about leaving.

Jax smiled a little then nodded for Juice to sit down.

"Not there," Jax said as Juice went to take his usual seat. "Sit by the VP's chair."

Juice raised his eyebrow, but moved seats, pleased with the new seating arrangement.

They all sat in silence for a minute, before Chibs asked where Ope was. It looked like everyone was right; Opie was done with SAMCRO.

Jax banged the gavel after sighing, and thus, a new era of SAMCRO was born.

* * *

><p>Juice pulled into the driveway, the weight of that day hanging on his shoulders. He was surprised to see Ana sitting on the porch, a baby monitor in one hand and a beer bottle in the other.<p>

He sat next to her, and she handed him the beer bottle.

"What's with that?" Juice asked, gesturing to the monitor.

"We have house guests in the second bedroom," Ana said, smiling a little. "I offered to keep Abel and Thomas. I figured that this was a conversation best held out here given our underage company."

Juice smiled and kissed the side of her head. They sat in silence, Juice drinking his beer and Ana keeping an ear out for Thomas.

Juice finished his bottle and sighed.

"I'm not leaving right now, babe," he said. "Jax is President now. Clay's stepping down. I think I owe it to him to see if things can change, you know?"

"Tara told me," Ana said, fiddling with the crow charm on her necklace. "I guessed that you would be staying, too."

"You can still go," Juice said. "I'd understand. And I'd catch up if shit here didn't get better."

Ana smiled and shook her head.

"I can't just go," she replied. "I can't quit on my family. I can't walk out on you again."

"You're not walking out on me, or quitting on me, baby," Juice explained. "I'm just telling you the option is there."

Ana sighed and pulled out something from her pocket. Juice took whatever Ana was handing him, and studied it for a moment

"I can't leave even if I wanted to. I'm not going to rob you the chance of being a father," she said quietly.

Juice looked confused for a moment as he studied the paper, then recognition dawned on his face as he took the image and her words in.

"You're pregnant," he said. He didn't ask. She nodded, waiting for his reaction.

"Yeah. We're going to have a baby," she said.

Juice looked at the image again, and again. He took in every detail, then he looked at Ana, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"Really?" he asked, his voice breaking a little. Ana's heart filled with joy when she took in the look on his face. She had never seen him look so happy since she'd met him.

"Yes, really," she said, smiling back.

"I'm...I'm a dad," Juice said, more to himself than to her. "I'm a dad. I'm a fucking dad, Ana, oh shit!"

He jumped up and pulled her up to him, kissing her feverently. Ana laughed as she felt a tear land on her cheek, and then she realized it wasn't hers, it was his. Juice was actually crying, and smiling at the same time. He placed his hands on her stomach and grinned again.

"I love you so much," he said, kissing her again. "You seriously just made me the happiest man on the fucking planet."

Juice looked back at the ultrasound, and then to Ana's stomach again.

"How far along?" he asked, doing the math in his head.

"About seven weeks," she said. "Five if you want to be technical. The first two are just like the two weeks before ovulation or some shit. It was definitely after that first time in Denver. Shit, it probably was that first time in Denver."

"You were on the pill, though," Juice said, though that didn't dampen his spirits at all.

"I was also on antibiotics a week before you found out who Amber really was," Ana pointed out as they walked inside. They tiptoed to their bedroom, where Ana set the monitor on the nightstand. "I'd gotten strep throat. Margaret was there for my freak out after she told me, and explained."

"Oh," Juice said in understanding. He was still looking at the little blip on the picture in awe.

"You're not angry?" Ana asked, curling up on the bed. Juice placed the picture on his nightstand and grinned, taking a box out of his kutte before pulling it off.

"Hell no," he said. "Matter of fact, that makes what I'm about to do even better."

Ana's eyes widened as he knelt beside the bed and opened the box in front of her.

He'd gotten the ring from Chibs. It was something called a claddagh ring. It represented loyalty, friendship and love. Chibs had told him the uses for it, so he took Ana's right hand, and placed it on her ring finger, with the tip of the heart pointed inside.

"This means you're in a relationship," he murmured. "Now if you put it with the tip outward on your left hand, it means you're engaged."

"Are you ready for that, yet?" Ana asked, admiring the ring. It was beautiful. The band was white gold, with a diamond heart held by hands and topped with a red gemstone inside the crown. She'd read about claddagh rings before, so she knew about the symbolism.

"That one's your call, remember?" Juice said with a grin. "Before I went inside, we established you'd be the one asking me to marry you."

Ana laughed at the memory, and couldn't believe Juice remembered that. She wasn't surprised, though. Juice was the type to remember almost everything.

Juice got in bed next to her and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her forehead as his he placed his hand over her stomach in a loving, protective gesture.

"Right now, let's just focus on getting used to the fact that there's a bambino growing in you right now. The rest can wait for a while," he said.

Ana nodded, and sighed contentedly.

She was finally getting what she wanted. A family of her own.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Here we are at the end of season 4, folks. And yes, I had to do it. I love reading stories where Juice is a dad. Plus I love seeing clips of Theo Rossi with kids, he has the most adorable face.<strong>_

_**I got the claddagh ring idea from loveink's story, Hands All Over. It's really good! **_

_**As always, thanks to you reviewers, and I'll be updating soon after I move.**_


	14. Chapter 14

A few weeks passed by, and they were honestly the happiest of Juice's life. He had thrown himself into finding out everything he could about what Ana would be going through. He'd gone with her to an appointment where he could hear his kid's heartbeat. Juice tried to hide his tears the best he could, but he didn't do the best job. It all became a solid reality to him in that moment. That was a heartbeat he helped make. He had a concrete reason why he shouldn't let the bullshit get him down. He was going to be a dad, and a damn better one than his father ever was to him.

Once Ana had passed the twelve week mark, she gave him permission to let everyone know about his newcoming status. He did so in true Sons fashion at the table during chapel. It was a little sad, with Bobby still in jail over a RICO case that Otto had turned rat for, but he couldn't keep it in anymore.

"I got some news, guys," he said after Jax called for new business.

Jax's mouth quirked. There was no doubt he knew, since Tara had found out and probably already told him.

"Go ahead," Jax said.

Juice pulled out a baby sized beanie with a reaper logo on it and tossed it onto the table.

"I think that's too small for you," Happy said, looking at it, confused.

Chibs was the first one to get it.

"Holy shit," he said, looking from the hat to Juice, to the hat again. "Juicy boy, no way."

Juice's grin only confirmed it, and finally Jax shook his head.

"Juice is going to be a dad, guys!" he yelled, rapping the table with his rings as the table exploded with reactions.

Chibs tackled Juice with a bear hug as the rest of the guys, even Tig, rapped their rings on the table along with Jax. Happy punched him in the shoulder, playfully, and Ratboy offered his congratulations nervously.

"Congratulations, son," Clay said as the noise died down. Juice took Clay's words with a tight smile-he still couldn't get Gemma's battered face out of his mind. Unfortunately, when he'd been released from the hospital, Clay became Juice's responsibility. He had to help him pack his shit and move to a new place, since Gemma had started divorce proceedings. Juice had made it clear to Clay. He wasn't there to be a therapist or a marriage counselor. He just was there to help do the heavy lifting.

"How far along, man?" Tig asked, pulling Juice back to the moment at hand.

"12 weeks," Juice said. "She wanted to wait until she was in the second trimester to tell anyone."

"Juice becoming a dad," Happy said, leaning back in his seat and grinning as Juice sat back down. "Now there's something to put on the news."

"We're proud of you, man," Jax said, a genuine smile on his face. "Anything you guys need, just let us know."

Juice grinned again as he took the beanie back and placed it in his kutte. He half listened to the details of the botched run, thankful this was one he had sat out. He was glad he'd decided to stick around, because this...this felt like the old days indeed. At least for the club.

Because there was a serious problem brewing at home.

Ana wasn't okay. The hormones, he was expecting, but he didn't know that combined with depression, the woman he fell in love with was slowly turning into someone he couldn't recognize. Here lately she'd become snippy, argumentative, and it was hard to get a smile out of her. She'd even stopped painting, which worried Juice even more. She tried to assure him she was fine, but they both knew she wasn't, and it was getting to the point where Juice was going to get Tara to intervene if things didn't improve.

Juice thought about her as he pretended to listen to the details about the run that he wasn't going on. He loved Ana, and would never bail on her. But something had to give. She had to talk to him instead of keeping it inside. For his sake, for hers, but most of all, for the life they'd created together.

* * *

><p>Ana sat at the picnic table outside the clubhouse, reading a magazine as the club walked out, done with the chapel meeting. She gave a small smile at Juice as he walked over, and he returned it brightly.<p>

"Hey, babe," he said, kissing her cheek as he sat down next to her. "Whatcha reading?"

Ana shook her head as she closed it and set it down. "Nothing important, just some baby shit," she said. Juice saw that today was looking to be a good day, so he took her hand, the one with the claddah ring, and kissed it lightly.

"Hey, there's the mommy to be," Jax said teasingly, kissing the top of her head. "Congratulations, sweetie."

"Thanks, Jax," Ana replied. She leaned against Juice and sighed contentedly as the guys milled about.

Unfortunately, the moment was ruined when she saw Eli and Mark walking up to the clubhouse, looking serious. Mark spotted her and a look of hatred came across his face. Juice noticed and stood up, blocking her from his view.

"What do you want?" he asked, staring Mark down. Ana sighed and stood up, placing one hand on his shoulder and the other on her slightly swollen belly, as if reminding him why antagonizing a self-proclaimed dirty cop wasn't the best idea.

Mark looked around with a smirk before speaking.

"You guys aware of the violence happening in Charming?" he asked, rolling his eyes as he noticed Ana's condition.

"Yeah, two home invasions lately, right?" Ana asked snippily.

"I wasn't talking to you," Mark shot back. "But yeah."

Eli sighed and intervened.

"Enough, Corcoran," he said. "Yes, we're just asking around, getting some information."

"Well," Chibs said, eying Corcoran with intense dislike. "Contrary to popular belief, we can read."

"You think we had something to do with it, Sheriff?" Juice asked Eli politely.

"Well gee, three weeks ago, Veronica Pope was killed in a hit that is assumed was meant for Laroy Wayne. Now one of the TM mechanics, and then just the other day one of your biker whores have their houses broken into," Mark said. "Yeah, there's a pattern."

"He wasn't talking to you," Ana said, mockingly to Mark, her eyes flashing angrily. Juice sighed, and knew that the hormones were making their presence known again.

"Look," Eli said, trying to diffuse the tension. "If these attacks are retaliation from Pope or the One Niners-"

"There's been no beefs, man," Tig interrupted. Ana swallowed the bile that rose in her throat when he spoke. He was the reason the club was being hunted now.

"Really?" Mark asked skeptically. "Then who would attack your truck outside of Modesto last night?"

Juice remembered then that the run he didn't go on the night before had been attacked. Phil had barely made it out alive, it was one of the things that he and Ana had argued about before he reminded her he didn't even go on the run in the first place. Which led to an argument about him helping out Clay, another thing Ana was refusing to understand.

"Angry pirates," Happy retorted, bringing Juice back from his thoughts. Juice and Ana snorted, and even Eli bit his bottom lip to supress a smile.

That did it for Mark. He stepped forward to where he was in Happy's face.

"I don't give a shit if Pope blows up every one of your fucking trucks," he said, his gaze on Happy now. Happy returned it with an unfaltering glare of his own. "That shit ain't happening in my quadrant."

"Whose quadrant, officer?" Eli asked loudly, reminding Mark who was really in charge.

Mark didn't care, he was still staring up at Happy with hatred and disdain.

"One innocent gets hurt, and I will make Pope look like an alter boy, you understand?" he asked Happy nastily.

"I see what you did there!" Chibs said with a laugh, diffusing the bomb that was likely to explode. "I appreciate a good Catholic joke!"

Ana and Juice cracked up, then, and even Happy laughed as Mark looked bewildered. Ana saw the truck pull in behind the cops and nudged Juice with a grin.

"BOBBY!" Chibs yelled, walking pass Mark as if he wasn't there. Juice and Ana went to join them but Mark blocked their way.

"Thought I told you to stay gone," he sneered at Ana.

Ana shrugged.

"What can I say?" she asked, in an attitude that reminded Juice so much of Gemma. "I guess I just don't do as I told."

His eyes flickered from her to Juice in disgust.

"Wow," he said. "Already knocked up, guess you're right where you belong after all."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Juice asked as Ana seethed beside him.

"Just hope that kid's a boy," Mark said, a knowing look on his face. "Like mother like daughter, right Ana?"

Luckily, he had turned just when Ana lunged for him with a feral growl. Juice grabbed her, and pulled her into the clubhouse, trying to contain her before she unloaded on a cop. He was at a loss. Ana had acquired a hair trigger lately, one that could rival Tig on his worst day. Juice didn't know what to do at all, he'd never been around a pregnant woman, and the last thing everyone needed was for a pregnant Ana being locked up with no one but an asshole cop around.

"Are you insane?" he hissed as he closed the door.

"You heard what the fuck he said," Ana said, snarling.

"Yeah, but more importantly, I saw through it and realized what he was really doing. And he almost succeeded in getting what he wants, babe!" Juice said harshly.

"Yeah, well good for you with that magic perception bullshit!" Ana said hotly, pushing his hands away from her. "Patent that shit and sell it or something, because all I saw was an asshole who made me leave this town insult my kid."

Juice groaned as she stormed out of the clubhouse and past Bobby, who looked at Juice with wide eyes.

"Well I heard congratulations were in order," Bobby said, hugging Juice. "But it seems Mom there isn't feeling it."

Juice rolled his eyes. "Fucking hormones, plus Corcoran baited her. Not a good combination."

Bobby chuckled as he grabbed a beer from behind the bar. "Best to steer clear. Precious was a monster while pregnant."

Juice narrowed his eyes at Bobby.

"You talking about the red headed rattlesnake? You mean she was worse while pregnant?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yep," Bobby replied, chuckling. "Be glad Ana isn't Precious."

Juice sighed, and realized that Bobby had a point. No matter how bad Ana was right now, things could be worse. She could still be gone.

* * *

><p>Ana looked up as Juice walked in, her eyes full of tears. She'd been wrong to unload on him earlier, and now all she wanted to to kiss and make up, and to watch old movies the way they always did when the days were long and stressful.<p>

"Hey, baby," Juice said, as if the argument at the clubhouse didn't happen. He kicked off his shoes, hung his kutte up by the door, and put his gun in the drawer at the side table before walking over and sitting beside her.

Ana leaned on his shoulder and sighed.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I was out of line-"

"Hey," Juice said, before kissing her lips sweetly. "You're carrying my baby. Your hormones are whacking out. I can take a little unnecessary ballbusting for a while."

Ana smiled before surrendering to another kiss. This kiss was slow, sensual, and delicious. Juice knew what he was doing with that mouth of his, and after almost three years of experiencing those kisses, she still couldn't get enough.

"You know what the best part about fighting is, babe?" Juice asked huskily, unbuttoning her dress as he nibbled her neck.

Ana giggled as he pulled her dress off of her. "No, what's that?"

"Make up sex," he said, catching her off guard and pulling her into his arms swiftly. Both of them laughing, he carried her into their bedroom, the fight long gone in their minds.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well, the move was good, folks. I'm sorry it took so long to bang this chapter out, but I've been exhausted. I've barely even been online. It was when I was getting a tattoo when I felt that writing itch happen in my brain, so after the pain in my arm went away, I began writing.<strong>_

_**I hope all's been well with you guys, and I hope I can do regular updates again.**_


	15. Chapter 15

Juice woke up the next morning to hear music coming from the kitchen. Grinning, he pulled his jeans on to see what his girl was up to.

When he rounded the corner, he was pleased to see that she was painting again, her easel set up at the table where a bouquet of flowers were front and center. She wore one of his old shirts, with a black pair of sweats and her red artists smock, and she was bobbing her head to the beat of the music. Juice listened for a moment, then shook his head as he chuckled.

"Backstreet Boys? Really, baby?" he asked. Ana jumped a little and then grinned guiltily as she peered from behind the easel.

"Sorry," she said, clearly not sorry at all. "Baby boy likes it."

"We don't know that," Juice said, kissing her cheek and taking her coffee cup from her. "Tea okay?"

"Mhm," she said, getting back to work on her painting. "You got Clay duty today?"

"Not until noon," he said, filling up her cup. "You eat anything yet?"

Ana nodded and pointed at the trash can. "Had two oranges and toast. Kept it all down."

Juice grinned as he made himself some tea, too. This was shaping up to be another good day, it seemed. She was in good spirits, and was even painting again.

He pressed a kiss to her temple as he passed her, and she grabbed his hand to stop him. She pulled him closer and looked up at him.

"Everything's going to be okay, right?" she asked suddenly. "I mean, Clay's not president anymore, so things have to get better soon, right?"

Juice smiled and kissed her softly.

"I wouldn't have stayed if I didn't think so," he whispered before capturing her mouth again. But before they could get too into it, his phone rang.

Groaning, he looked at the caller ID.

"It's Jax," he explained before picking up. "Yeah?...Shit. Okay, I'll be there soon...uhhh, sure, I'll bring her. Okay. Bye."

Juice hung up and took a deep breath.

"What?" Ana asked in a resigned tone.

"Tig's daughter...she was killed last night," Juice said. "Pope's own revenge, I guess."

Ana sighed and got up.

"Give me a minute and I'll get dressed," she said, kissing his cheek lightly. Juice silently thanked God that she took this easier than he thought she would, given he'd just tried to assure her things were getting better. Right now, things were not looking that way.

* * *

><p>Juice pulled up to the place Jax had told them to meet. Diosa International looked businesslike on the outside but on the inside, it was clear that it was a glorified brothel.<p>

Gemma spotted Ana and hugged her tightly as Juice went to talk to Jax.

"Heard you're pregnant," she said, rubbing Ana's stomach lightly. "You happy about it?"

Ana nodded, smiling a little. "Yeah," she said. "What makes me the happiest is seeing how happy he is."

Gemma glanced over at Juice, and couldn't help but grin at the light in his eyes. Sure, things were messed up at the moment, but the kid was still overjoyed. She could see it in his occasional glances towards Ana, and how his eyes were drifting down to her stomach every so often. He was already in daddy mode.

"I haven't ever seen him like this, Ana," Gemma said. "He's happier than I've ever known him to be."

Ana opened her mouth to speak but she stopped when she saw a tall, burly looking Mexican guy come up behind Gemma.

"Everything okay, Ma?" he asked, and Ana smiled at the kindness in his eyes and the gentleness in his voice.

Gemma smiled and took his hand, making Ana lift an eyebrow curiously.

"Nero, this is one of the girls I was telling you about," she said. "Ana Lewis, Nero Padilla."

"Nice to meet you, Ana," Nero said, shaking her hand.

"Likewise, Nero," she replied. "Gemma's been talking about me?"

"Yeah," Nero said, chuckling a little. "Said she's got a couple girls she considers like daughters. You're with..."

"Him," Ana said, pointing at Juice, who was shaking his head at what must have been one of Nero's girls.

"Oh, so you like the brown ones too, huh?" Nero asked jokingly, dodging Gemma as she tried to smack his arm. "I'm just kidding. I can tell you got a little bit of Latin in you, too. In the eyes."

Ana nodded, grinning. "My mother was from Monterrey. She moved here when she was twelve."

Nero and Ana were still talking, alternating between Spanish and English, when Juice rejoined her.

"Hey, babe," he said, kissing her cheek and caressing her stomach lightly. "I gotta get to Clay's, okay? I'll be home later tonight."

Ana forced a smile, as she always did when he mentioned Clay, and kissed him back quickly.

"Anything special you want for dinner tonight?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow as he gave her a sexy grin. It was asking for dinner, and also a code for anything he wanted her wearing for later.

"Spaghetti, and maybe strawberry shortcake for dessert?" he asked, giving her a wink before he took off.

Ana shook her head and turned to face Gemma, who shook her head with a bewildered expression.

"Strawberry shortcake?" she asked.

"It's this pink thing he got me, along with some strawberry lotion," Ana explained. "What's with the face?"

"You're still okay with him going to babysit Clay?" Gemma asked.

Ana shrugged.

"Why shouldn't I be?" she asked.

Gemma sighed and gestured for Ana to sit down.

"Come on," she said. "I need to talk to you."

* * *

><p>Juice pulled up to the driveway and saw a light on in the house. He looked at the time and swore. At one AM, an awake and pregnant Ana was an angry Ana. He'd promised sex tonight, and he would have been home earlier, but Clay had to be a stupid fuck and try to get on his bike. Juice had spent hours trying to fix the damage that had been done to it.<p>

Bracing himself, he walked in, and squared his shoulders, ready to face her wrath.

But, she was just sitting there, looking at him as if she'd never seen him before in her life.

"Ana?" he asked carefully.

"I'm trying to understand something," she whispered, holding her hand up in a stop motion when he tried to step closer. "You told me black shot Clay. But now I know. Clay killed Piney, Opie shot Clay."

Fuck. Fucking Gemma and her mouth. Juice had completely forgotten to tell Ana what they'd found out, because he'd been relishing in the fact that she'd quit biting his head off lately, she was almost back to normal, and he didn't want to ruin it.

"Fuck, baby, I'm sorry," he said. "I was enjoying the peace we finally had and-"

"Tig's daughter is dead," Ana said. "Dead because of a lie that drove him to kill another innocent woman. And she's just not dead, she got burned alive in front of him. Yet, here you stand, still helping Clay, the man who was the catalyst for it all, like it's fucking nothing."

"You think I want to be helping him?" Juice asked. "Seriously? There's a ton of things I'd rather do right now. I want to be here with my girlfriend rather than helping that old bastard, but the truth is that-"

"The club comes first, yeah, I know that!" Ana said.

"That is not what I was going to say," Juice said, trying to stay calm. "I was going to say I was the only one who was willing to do it. Jax needs Clay for something, I don't know what. At the time, Tig was going nuts, Happy's mother was dying, Bobby was in prison, and Chibs was needed to help Jax. I'm the only one who had a good enough reason to stay behind, so I was asked to stay close to Clay, make sure he was okay. And honestly, I believed the black lie too, so I'm just as pissed off at the man as you are."

"Still," Ana said, as if he hadn't said anything. "You told me things would be better. You promised me that."

"I told you you could go!" Juice said, losing his temper a little. "When the shift happened, I told you, you could just go and I'd catch up if things here didn't get better. And if they did, I would have brought you back home. You chose to stay, Ana."

"I couldn't just leave you!" Ana said, heatedly.

"Why not? You did it before," Juice said before he could stop himself.

A dead silence filled the air. Ana got up without talking, and walked to her bedroom. A slamming door is all Juice got out of her, and he sunk on the couch, his head in his hands.

He'd promised her he wouldn't hold her leaving against her when they left Denver together, and he'd just broken that promise. He could hear her muffled sobs from the bedroom, but knew he wasn't the person she needed to talk to right now. No apology was going to fix what he'd just said. All that was going to fix it was time and space.

* * *

><p>Ana walked into the brothel early the next morning, still heated over what went down the night before. Gemma noticed the look on her face and pulled her aside.<p>

"You two get into it?" she asked. Ana nodded.

"Yep," she said. "But I chose to stay. Guess I gotta deal. Oh, and apparently, he resents me still for leaving the first time."

Gemma groaned.

"He doesn't. Juice doesn't resent a single thing about you. He just says shit without thinking-"

"He promised me, Gemma," Ana said. "He promised he would never throw me leaving in my face. He wouldn't hold it against me."

Ana sunk into the couch and began to sob.

"God, why does this hurt so much?" she asked in a broken voice.

"Because you're in love with him, and you're having his baby, and you're just overwhelmed with everything going on," Gemma said, sitting next to her and rubbing her back. "It's tough being a woman in this life. But things are going to be better. All you need to do is dry those pretty brown eyes, and talk to him about it. Forgive the bastard, because we both know he didn't mean to hurt you."

Ana nodded feebly, but then shook her head.

"I'll forgive when I'm calmed down," she said. "Right now I'm still angry."

Jax walked over and looked over the scene with concern.

"Everything okay here?" he asked.

Gemma shrugged.

"Juice pulled a Juice," she explained. "Ana found out about Clay, they argued. Juice said something without thinking."

"Ah," Jax said, understanding. "If you want me to pull him off Clay-"

"No," Ana said. "You have your reasons, I'm sure. This isn't a club thing. Don't worry about it."

"Well if you're sure," Jax said. "I got a favor to ask you."

* * *

><p>Juice pulled up to Diosa, in complete disbelief. Chibs told him to get his ass there for a wedding, he just wasn't aware it would be Jax and Tara getting married.<p>

It made sense, with the warrants and all that. Even more surprising, he saw as he walked in, was that Ana would be signing as a witness. She was adjusting the orchid in Tara's hair when she saw him, and the sadness in her eyes was like a punch to the gut. Gemma just shook her head as Juice walked over to the opposite wall, giving her the space that she non-verbally demanded.

The judge went through the ceremony quickly, but then time slowed as Chibs stood to say his words, and Juice met Ana's eyes.

"I'm sorry," he mouthed to her as Chibs spoke. She just shook her head and plastered a fake smile on her face as the judge pronounced Jax and Tara man and wife.

In the chaos that followed, Ana slipped away, and Juice followed her. He had to make sure where they stood, that they were going to be okay.

"Babe," he said, catching her hand outside. "I'm so sorry."

"Look," she said, aggravated. "I'm going to forgive you eventually, but we're not doing this here. Their wedding day is going to be turning shitty in a few hours, so let's not make it even worse, okay?"

Juice felt himself fall even more in love with her at that. Even though she was pissed at him, she wasn't wanting to ruin someone else's day.

"Alright," he said, conceding. "I'll meet you at the clubhouse?"

"Yeah," Ana replied, giving his hand a slight squeeze before letting it go.

"Ana, I love you," he said as she walked away. Ana stopped for a moment before turning around with a small but genuine smile.

"I know. I love you, too."

* * *

><p>The time had come. Ana was sitting on a picnic table outside the clubhouse, Juice standing close enough to protect her if shit went south. Things were still uneasy between them, but they did call a truce for the moment. What was happening now was bigger than their fight.<p>

"Help Tara with the boys," Jax said to her. He looked over at Juice. "And you quit being an idiot. Fix your family. Help hold it down out here."

Juice nodded.

"Absolutely," he said, as Jax hugged him. He kissed Ana's cheek and moved on to Gemma.

Ana stood up as the police transport vehicle came in, led in by Eli and Mark. Juice noticed and stood in front of her as they watched Jax, Tig, and Chibs begin to be hauled away. Ana saw Opie speed onto the lot and sighed in relief. He was going to be here, after all. She hadn't seen him since before Clay's shooting, and knowing the reason why made her heart hurt for the man. Juice grabbed her hand and squeezed it, their argument forgotten for the time being, as Opie got off his bike. Ana was holding Gemma's other hand, and squeezed hers.

However, Ana let go of Gemma's hand when Opie punched Eli in the face. Her hand flew to her mouth as he punched another cop. Everyone was frozen in place, not given much choice due to the police having them at gunpoint, but Juice snarled at Mark, who had his gun pointed at him and Ana.

"My girl is pregnant, put your fucking gun down," he said darkly.

"Put it down, Corcoran," Eli shouted, holding his bleeding nose. Mark sneered at the couple but lowered his weapon anyway as Opie was put in handcuffs.

"What the hell is Opie doing?" Tara mumbled, confused.

"He's staying close," Gemma said, her eyes on Jax's retreating back. She locked eyes with Ana, who was still holding Juice's hand tightly. Ana seemed to have a sixth sense, and Gemma seemed to pick up on what she was feeling. Ana knew that Gemma knew that she felt something bad in the air.

The guys were loaded without anymore incidents, and as Gemma walked into the office, Ana joined Bobby, Happy, Tara, and Juice to watch the transport truck haul the four guys away. Juice stepped forward and put an arm around Tara's shoulder. He whispered something in her ear. Ana probably would have been jealous, but she knew Tara needed comfort now more than anyone else did, and Juice was the only one present who could probably give her that. Happy wasn't the comforting type and Bobby was heading to help Gemma.

Happy sighed and put an arm around Ana's waist.

"Come on, mama," he said. "You don't need to be on your feet. Papi will be in shortly, they're going to be a minute."

Ana looked back and smiled a little when she saw that Tara had become a recipient for one of Juice's hugs. Juice caught her eye and smiled back. He mouthed "I love you" before she looked away.

No matter what had happened, and no matter how this fight was going to end, she knew that Juice was always going to be the good guy. It was just who he was.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Don't get comfortable just yet. This is just the eye of the shitstorm for Ana and Juice, and we have to take into account that we're about to go into 5'3. The dreaded episode. Oh, God, I hate that episode.<strong>_

_**Also, I made a brief error last chapter, but no one's caught it yet, and I can't change it right now. I'll change it when I can.**_


	16. Chapter 16

Ana woke up in her bed, groggy and confused. She heard light snoring coming from the front room.

She remembered things clearly now. Juice and her had come home, watched a movie without speaking, and then she must have fallen asleep. Juice must have put her in bed, and he crashed on the couch, like the early days in their relationship.

She got dressed quietly, choosing a black lacy sundress, since her jeans weren't fitting just right anymore. She sighed and grabbed her credit card before grabbing her keys. Today was definitely a shopping day for her.

She grabbed everything she needed, gave Juice a soft kiss on his forehead as she passed him, but her phone rang before she made it out the door.

"Yeah?" she asked quietly, noticing Juice stirring a little.

"Ana? It's Gemma."

"What's up?" she asked, opening the door slowly, keeping an eye on Juice, who seemed to have gone back to sleep.

"I was going to do some errands but my car is shit. Think you could pick me up at my place?" Gemma asked hoarsely.

"Yeah," Ana replied, easing out the front door and onto the porch, sighing in relief. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

* * *

><p>Juice sighed as he drove Clay to Diosa, cursing himself out the entire way. He needed to be home, fixing shit with his Old Lady, not driving around this murdering son of a bitch from place to place.<p>

"Something wrong at home, Juicy?" Clay asked as they drove.

"Nah," Juice said quickly.

"Yeah there is," Clay said. "You and Ana, normally attached at the hip. You always show up to work with a new hickey or a huge 'I-just-got-fucked' face, but lately, you've been scowling and those hickeys are fading. What's wrong?"

Juice glowered at the road for a few minutes, then shook his head.

"Pregnancy bullshit. Her hormones are fucked, her depression makes it worse, and I said something stupid the other night," he finally said.

Clay nodded, pursing his lips as he considered Juice's words.

"She's a good girl," he said. "Crazy, a little, but good. But you need to keep yourself happy, too, son. You get a free pass with that pregnancy shit."

Juice snorted as he pulled into the parking lot. He knew that free pass shit may work with Clay, but it sure as hell wasn't working with him.

On the other hand, Clay did have a point with keeping himself happy, didn't he? Juice mulled over the ex president's words as they walked into Diosa, and came face to face with Nero and a woman who was at least Gemma's age.

Juice half heartedly tried to get Clay to back off, but after he was done trying to prove his dick size, Clay stood down on his own, and decided to have a session with one of Nero's girls. Juice went to wait outside, but Nero's friend caught his arm.

"I think it's time for you to graduate, sweetie," she purred. Juice bit his lip as he tried to remember the reasons he shouldn't do this. Ana. Ana and the baby. Ana when she finds out what you did.

But Clay's voice was all that made sense, so, with a grin, Juice let the woman lead him to the back, not paying attention to anything else.

* * *

><p>Ana smiled as she grabbed her purchaces from the saleswoman. Gemma had suggested a maternity store in Stockton when she found out what Ana's plans were for the day. They'd spent the morning shopping and talking about the things that were going on in the club.<p>

"You and him fix shit yet?" Gemma asked, helping Ana load her car with the clothes.

Ana shrugged. "I'm going to tonight," she said. "I get it. He was mad. I was mad. We get over it, right?"

Gemma smiled and nodded. "That we do. Juice loves the ground you walk on."

Ana got in behind the wheel as Gemma answered her ringing phone. Her brow furrowed as she got in the car.

"Okay, we need to get to Diosa. It seems our boys went on a field trip."

* * *

><p>Ana pulled into Diosa beside the van, still trying to convince Gemma to change her mind. She didn't want to see what Juice was doing there. What Clay was doing. It was best to keep the suspicions in her mind than to see if they were actually true.<p>

"Gemma, come on, this is not-"

"Ana, I don't give a shit what bullshit went down between you and Juice. You're coming with me to get Clay and him out of this whorehouse," Gemma said.

Ana rolled her eyes as she got out of her car, and hurried as fast as she could to catch up with Gemma.

Sure, she and Juice said shit they didn't mean, but Juice really wasn't the type of guy to sleep with another woman, was he? They were going to talk tonight, both of them agreed to that. Was he really that angry with her, still?

Her question was answered when they walked in. Juice was walking out, putting a shirt back on. He had one arm in when he saw her standing with Gemma. Gemma looked between Ana and Juice. Ana's face was full of betrayal and anger, and Juice looked like a man who'd been caught with his hand in a cookie jar. Carla, the woman Juice had been with, was standing behind him with a smug smile on her face.

Ana wanted to punch Juice, to kil that woman behind him, but she remembered that she was in the process of growing a human being. So, instead of acting on those impulses, she just whirled around and stormed out the door, and Juice looked at Gemma, confused.

"Don't just stand there, you idiot!" she exclaimed. "Go after her!"

Nero walked over as Juice ran out the door, and shook his head.

"I forgot he was taken, Mama," he said. "That's his-"

"Pregnant Old Lady," Gemma said, glaring at Carla as the smile slid from her face. "Now where's my ex old man?"

* * *

><p>Juice ran out of the brothel, and saw Ana against the wall of the building, sobbing hysterically, holding her stomach as she tried to control herself. She looked up to see him coming towards her, and tried to walk away as fast as she could.<p>

"Ana, stop!" Juice said, grabbing her arm. Ana whirled around and jerked her arm out of his.

"Don't fucking touch me, Juan Carlos Ortiz," she cried out, angry tears streaming down her face. "Don't you dare touch me."

"Ana, please, let me explain," Juice said, trying to keep his hands to himself. "Nothing happened, I promise. Clay was saying some bullshit-"

"Clay? Really? You let that asshole get in your head?" Ana screamed at him in disbelief. "After what he did to Gemma? To Tara?!"

Juice looked at the ground, trying not to show the tears that was filling his eyes. He'd fucked up for sure now. Any chance he had at working things out with her was fading away, and he had to work fast to get it back.

"Nothing happened between me and her, baby," he said, finally looking up. "We just like made out but when she went to take off my belt, I couldn't go through with it-"

"Save it," Ana said angrily, grabbing her keys and heading for her car. "Just fucking save it. The fact you went back there at all says too much."

"Ana, stop! You can't drive like this-" Juice said, grabbing her arm again. She jerked her arm back again and glared at him. Juice had only seen that look in her eyes a couple times, and it was mainly reserved for those she hated. It was a knife in his heart to have Ana look at him like that, and the fact that he deserved it drove the knife deeper.

"Yes, I can. Find somewhere else to sleep tonight, because I don't want to fucking look at your face right now," Ana said. Without turning back, she got in her car, and sped back to her house, leaving Juice in her wake.

* * *

><p>Juice sat at Tara's table with Happy and Bobby, in a bit of a daze. He could barely remember much of what happened after Ana left him. He remembered telling Clay to find another ride. He remembered riding his bike out to Yosemite, but even that didn't work. All he could see was Ana's hate filled gaze.<p>

He'd really fucked this one up. He could feel Ana's kiss from this morning on his forehead, a small gesture that promised things were getting better, then he had to listen to Clay's stupid advice.

Happy kicked his foot under the table.

"You're bumming out the kid, man," he said, raspily. Juice gave a half smile in apology to Abel, who was playing War with Happy. Bobby shook his head at the sight of it all and handed Juice a bottle of water.

"You can fix this," he said, sitting next to him. "I don't know how, but you can. You and Ana, you guys are something a lot of us respect now. What this club has to look forward to."

Juice shrugged.

"Think I can fix cheating on her? Because for all intents and purposes, that's what I did," he said.

"I didn't say it would be easy," Bobby replied as the phone rang. Tara picked it up immediately, her face breaking into a smile as she talked to Jax. However, her smile faded as she took in what he was saying.

"Oh, God, baby I am so sorry," she whispered, as the room got quiet. "Tomorrow? Okay. Yeah, I'll let them know. I love you."

She turned to face the guys, tears streaming down her face. Juice felt his stomach sink, and he knew someone wasn't coming home.

* * *

><p>Ana rolled her eyes when she heard a knock at the door. She'd been ignoring all the phone calls. She wanted to be left alone, and no one was getting that. Whoever was on the other side of the door was about to get it in a heartbeat.<p>

Rubbing her stomach softly, she got up and opened the door. She scoffed when she saw who it was. His head was down, but those stupid tattoos were unmistakable, even in the middle of the night.

"Juice, what did I- what's wrong?" she asked, her anger fading when he lifted up his head to look at her. Juice's eyes were full of tears, and not the pitiful apology tears either. These tears came from a place of true grief.

Juice just shook his head and kissed her, tears spilling down his cheeks as he claimed her mouth aggresively. Ana responded instinctively, moving back to where they were inside and shutting the door behind him. He pulled away, wiping his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry," he said, dropping to his knees and kissing her stomach tenderly. "Daddy's sorry, munchkin."

"Juice, you're scaring me," Ana said fearfully, pulling him to his feet.

Juice gestured to the couch questionigly. Ana nodded, and together, they sat down, only for Juice to break down again.,Ana held him as he sobbed, short broken sobs that she'd never seen from him before. Juice just held her hand tight as he cried. Whatever this was, it was deeper than any fight they'd had. Something horrible had happened.

"Juan," Ana said softly, tilting his head up to look at her. "What happened, baby?"

"Jax...just called Tara from County. I was there with Bobby and Happy, she was going to let me crash there...but Jax said-" his voice broke as he let out another sob.

"Was it Chibs?" Ana asked, terrified. Juice loved Chibs to death, he was like a second father to him. And Ana loved the Scot, too. Juice just shook his head.

"Opie was killed," Juice finally said quickly.

"No," Ana said, shocked. "No, it...no!"

Juice just pulled Ana closer, and it was his turn to hold her as she broke down. Opie being killed was the last thing she expected. They didn't talk to each other much, but she felt close to the man regardless of all of that. Opie was everyone's friend, everyone's brother. Him being gone just didn't make sense.

"Baby, please, I don't like us fighting," he said, pulling her closer. "Please just forgive me. I was dumb, and I shouldn't-"

"It's okay," Ana said, tearfully pulling away and kissing one of the tattoos on his head. "I don't want to fight anymore. I love you too much for this bullshit to tear us apart. We need you."

Juice placed his hand on her stomach and sighed before kissing Ana softly.

"I need you two, too," he said, pressing his forehead against hers. "My two girls."

"We don't know that, yet," Ana reminded him with a watery smile.

"I do," Juice said, and as he looked into her eyes, Ana fell in love all over again. Even though the world was falling apart, and one of his friends was dead, Juice still looked at her as if he would jump in front of a bullet for her. "I have this feeling that we have a little girl in there. And I'm going to give both of my girls my best, from this moment on. I promise."

He pulled her to him again, and they just held each other, grieving the loss of one of the greatest people they'd ever known.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Reviewer replies:<strong>_

_**Guest: I did use it, it was my plan all along. But everything from this moment onward is going to be good again with our couple.**_

_**Now on to the author notes:**_

**_"Stolen Huffy" needs a chapter all to itself, I've decided. So the next chapter may be a little short, but I loved Opie so he needs that one chapter. _**

**_Consider Ana and Juice made up. No more fighting, just good times for them. Juice isn't going to be a big fan of the things that Jax is doing, but he's more focused on his family than the club. The conflict with Jax (since in this Jax has nothing against Juice, leverage wise) really takes off in the next story, which follow seasons 6 and 7._**

**_So yeah. Til next time, thanks to all of you lovely people, both here and on tumblr. You're awesome._**


	17. Chapter 17

Juice laid in bed, watching Ana as she slept. They had spent the night before in bed. They didn't make love, or even talk. They shared their grief in silence, and had ended up falling asleep in each other's arms.

Juice smiled a little as he observed her face. She looked completely peaceful as she slept, the worries of everything erased from her face. He could feel her legs entwined with his, and her hand rested loosely over her stomach. He put one of his hands under it, and smiled as he felt a flutter brush across his palm. He remembered that feeling as a kid, when he felt his mother's belly when she was pregnant with Jenni.

"Hey kid," he whispered, so he wouldn't wake up Ana. "Sorry for giving your mom so much crap lately. I love her a lot, you know, even if I ain't acted like it."

Another flutter, a little stronger this time, and Juice grinned a little. His kid was kicking his hand, almost as if they were talking to each other.

"Yeah, I'm a jerk. But remember if I can feel that, your mom can, too, so cool it a little. Give her a break, yeah?" he asked softly.

A soft flutter this time, and Juice patted the spot gently.

"Love you, kid," he whispered as Ana stirred.

"Morning, baby" he said, kissing her sweetly. She returned it with a soft moan, and pulled Juice on top of her, deepening the kiss.

"Now?" Juice asked, laughing a little. "I just had a conversation with our kid."

"I heard," Ana murmured, pushing her hips up against him.

Juice nuzzled her neck and groaned as her hands found his dick and grasped it.

"Baby, as much as I would love, and I mean love, to spend the day in bed with you, we have the thing with Opie today," he said.

Ana released him and sighed as he rolled off of her. The atmosphere had definitely changed from cheerful to gloomy when he mentioned Opie.

"Is it sad that I forgot he was dead?" she asked, laying on his chest.

Juice shook his head as he put an arm around her shoulder. The tender moment he had had with the kid had him forgetting all of the fuckery of the night before.

"I did too, for a minute," he admitted, kissing her forehead. "But we gotta face it eventually."

Ana nodded before getting up and going to her closet, She pulled out a pair of black maternity jeans and a flowing black top with red flowers on it.

"New clothes?" he asked, grabbing a black T-shirt to wear under his kutte.

"Yeah," Ana replied, shimmying the jeans on and grabbing her boots. Juice smiled as he took in her changing figure. The baby bump was more obvious now, and her boobs had definitely gotten fuller.

How in the hell was he about to cheat on her? She was the most beautiful woman in the world, carrying his child, and he almost lost her for good.

Juice walked over and hugged her tightly, inhaling the scent of her hair deeply as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm really sorry, baby girl," he said softly. "Yesterday, the other night. I was a complete moron."

Ana shook her head as she pulled back.

"It's fine, Juan," she said, smiling at the softening in his features. "Really. Let's just put it behind us. Now I need to finish getting dressed, I know I'm going to be needed at the clubhouse."

And with a kiss, she pulled her shirt on and sauntered into the bathroom to fix her hair. Juice shook his head and smiled as he pulled his black jeans on. No matter what else was going on, he was still one of the luckiest guys in the world. He had Ana, a kid on the way, and a bright future with them ahead of him. No one was going to take it away.

* * *

><p>Ana drove into the compound's parking lot and parked in her usual spot as Juice backed his bike into his designated space. The place was already crawling with activity. A few crow eaters were crying outside the building, and some of the hang arounds were bustling about, trying to find something to do.<p>

Juice gave her a quick kiss before hurrying into the clubhouse to get things ready for the guys coming home, and Ana searched the area for a familiar face. She spotted Tara at one of the picnic tables, with Thomas. Abel was with one of the prospects at the playground, and Tara was watching him like a hawk. Ana decided to join her.

"Hey, you," Tara said, hugging Ana closely. "How are you?"

"Fine," Ana said, pulling away and sitting down. "How are you?"

Tara sat down and shook her head. Ana had felt a change in Tara over the past few weeks. She'd literally had her life smashed into pieces, and just when she was getting back on track, she'd found out that her plans had, once again, been blown to pieces. Ana didn't know how Tara could live like that without wanting to go crazy.

"I'm scared, Ana," she admitted. "I'm fucking terrified. Opie was Jax's best friend. This is going to change...everything."

Ana didn't doubt that. She had the same feeling, and she knew Juice was beginning to think it as well. He didn't have to tell her, it was all in his body language. Jax and Opie were supposed to turn this club around, and Opie was the man who Jax looked to when things got crazy. Without Opie, Ana knew Jax was going to be different.

"It's a good thing he still has you," Ana said, taking Tara's good hand. "Like Gemma told me years ago, we're the ones who keep these lunatics sane. I know you and Gemma are at odds right now, but her advice was pretty much on point. Jax needs you more than ever, because if he lost you, too, he's gone."

Tara gave her a watery smile as they heard the familiar rumble of motorcycles. Abel ran to Tara, babbling about Daddy being home, and Ana took a step back as Jax pulled in with Tig and Chibs. Jax walked to his family and had a moment with them, a moment so intimate and sincere it nearly broke Ana's heart to watch it.

"Hey, lass," Chibs said, pulling her attention away from Jax and his family. He hugged her gently, and she returned it, trying to stop the tears in her eyes.

"Hey, Chibs," she replied. "You okay?"

"All things considered, yeah. How about you and the boy? Things all fixed?" he asked, sitting down and gesturing for Ana to do the same. She nodded with a small smile, putting a hand over her stomach, where the baby was kicking again.

"Yeah," she said. "After everything, we decided it was stupid to keep fighting like that. He's inside with the rest of them, waiting for you guys."

Jax walked over and kissed the top of her head.

"That's good to know," he said. "And I'm glad you guys fixed things, Ana. Thanks for being here."

Ana squeezed Jax's hand as she gave him a sad smile.

"It's no problem, Jackson. And I'm so sorry, about Opie. He was a great person. I'm going to miss him a lot."

Jax didn't say anything. The look in his eyes said it all to Ana. He squeezed her hand back before walking into the clubhouse, and Ana could see what Tara meant. The confident swagger Jax normally had was gone; all that remained was a man who looked as if he'd lost everything.

* * *

><p>Juice came out with the guys after chapel, but was avoiding Clay like the plague. He murmured something to one of the new nomads-turned-Redwood, and sat next to Ana.<p>

"No Clay today?" Tara asked, confused at the look of loathing Juice shot the ex-President. It seemed as if the only people who knew about the Diosa incident was Ana, Gemma, Clay, and Juice, and it seemed as if things were staying that way, much to Ana's relief.

"Nope," Juice said, with an air of finality. "Told Jax to give me something else to do. I'm no one's babysitter. Frankie's got Clay now."

Tara looked a little surprised, but shrugged it off when she saw the smile on Ana's face as Juice kissed her cheek. She remembered when it was her and Jax that acted like that. Granted, it was in high school, but she could still remember how she would get butterflies every time Jax would give her that heartbreaking smile.

However, Juice wasn't even comparable to Jax. Tara loved Jax to death, but he didn't wear his heart on his sleeve like Juice did. It was obvious to everyone around that Juice loved Ana. When he was at her house, heartbroken and torn up, he still talked about her as if she was the most important person in the world, and to him, she probably was.

Tara could see why Ana didn't want to leave again. The first time nearly gutted Juice, a second time would probably kill him for sure. Most of the guys around would still pick the club over everything, Tara knew that. Jax was even doing it. But somehow, she knew Juice would be different. Juice would always pick Ana first, even if it meant him being cast out from the MC.

"Hey, Ana?" Tara asked, brushing the thoughts away. "Think you could come with me to Lyla's? I got to get her ready for the wake tonight, and I figured you would be a welcome face to her."

Ana nodded, and kissed one of Juice's tattoos as she got up.

"I'll be back," she promised as she walked with Tara.

"Take your time, babe," he said. "I ain't going anywhere."

Tara shook her head with a smile. That was definitely something she could believe.

* * *

><p>Juice sat on the swing as he waited for Ana to get back, and he thought about a conversation he'd had with Opie, while she was still in Denver. Opie had found him at a bar in Stockton, not too long after they'd gotten out, and he was drunk out of his mind.<p>

_"Juice, man, let's go. People are looking for you," Opie said, pulling Juice up from the bar and mouthing a thank you at the bartender._

_"Let em look," Juice slurred. "I'm tired of this shit."_

_Opie got Juice into the tow truck and got behind the wheel._

_"Tired of what shit, man?" Opie asked, turning the key over._

_"Feeling broken, man. Like there's something wrong with me. Is that why she left?" Juice asked, drunken tears coming down his face._

_"She didn't leave because of you, man," Opie said. "And honestly, you know Ana would kick your ass if she knew you were doing this. Getting drunk in Stockton isn't helping your little mission of finding her, is it?"_

_"No," Juice said. "But it sure as hell helps with the pain."_

_Opie didn't say much on the way back after that, but as they pulled into the parking lot of the clubhouse, he looked over at Juice. Juice noticed that Opie had that lost look in his eyes still, the one that stayed when he lost Donna._

_"That pain reminds us we're still here, brother," Opie said. "Get it together. Stop boozing it, and get out there and find her. Don't end up like my old man. You're too good for that."_

Juice wiped his eyes as he remembered that was the last full conversation he'd actually had with Opie. He heard footsteps approaching and looked up to see Tig walking over. He sat down in the swing next to Juice in silence, and offered a flask. Juice shook his head.

"I'm never going to forgive myself, you know," Tig said. "I mean, I killed Donna. And then my actions got Opie killed, too. I feel like all the bad shit that's happened to his family, has been my fault in some way. I won't ever forgive myself. I know Jax won't forgive me, either. It should have been me."

Juice sighed. He and Tig never had bonding sessions, and he remembered Tig's words last time he tried to get to know him. Still, Tig was a brother, and he needed some comfort too, even if everything he said was true.

"I don't know what to say, man," Juice said. "You'll forgive yourself eventually. Shit can't be like this forever. That's what I keep telling myself. That's how I'm able to go home at night."

Tig nodded and took another swig from his flask.

"You think things would be different if you never met her?" Tig asked. "Ana, I mean. Ever think of where you'd be if she didn't move here?"

Juice shook his head. "I tried to once. It was a scary place. When she left, I was broken. But never knowing her? I can't imagine where I'd be. Maybe I'd be even more fucked than I am now. Maybe I would have fallen for that cop's bullshit. Who knows. But I don't like thinking about it, because I do know her, and I'm a better man because of her. And now I'm about to be a dad, and I can't be thinking about bullshit like that."

"That's what I mean, man. Choices. Every choice we make, ends up affecting our future selves. If I hadn't accused Opie of being a rat, everything would be different. I'd probably still have my kid, for Christ's sake," Tig said, and Juice realized he was talking more to himself than to him. "Donna would still be alive, Opie would still be here. It could have been a very different world, brother."

Tig got up, and swayed a bit before steadying himself.

"Don't be like me, kid," he said to Juice before stumbling away. Juice looked after him in a mixture of disgust and sadness.

"Don't plan on it," he mumbled.

* * *

><p>Ana sat at the bar as the guys brought in the big casket that held one of the best men she'd ever known. It had been hell at Lyla's house, but between her, Gemma, and Tara, they'd been able to get the woman dressed decently and bathed. Ana even fixed her hair for her, and listened to her talk about what she had planned to say to Opie when he had come home.<p>

Ana wiped her eyes for what must have been the hundredth time that day as she thought about Opie. He had been one of the first to welcome her back when she returned from Denver, with one of his iconic bear hugs. He always had a smile for her when she saw him, even if they didn't speak much. The few times they did were always memorable, especially when they'd gotten home from Ireland. Opie and Juice had grabbed the wrong bags, and Opie had told her that it was a riot to his kids when he was wearing a shirt that was way too small for him. That was the shirt she held now, one that Juice never wore again for some reason. She planned to put it in his casket later, when it was her turn to pay her respects.

Ana watched Juice come out from the room, and her heart broke when she saw him lean against a post for a minute to wipe his eyes. His eyes sought her out, and when they met hers, the rest of the world faded away. He made his way over and rested his head in her hair.

"You ready, baby?" he asked softly, his hands caressing the shirt she held and laughing a little at his own memory of it. In his hand he held a small bag of weed, and Ana looked up at him with amused confusion.

"He never used his wedding present," Juice said, shrugging. "This was part of it. I gave him a gift certificate for Clear Passages."

Ana laughed a little as she kissed him sweetly. It was such a Juice thing to do, risk violating his parole just to send his friend off with one last gift.

Lyla exited the room, and Chibs nodded at Juice and Ana. Juice took her hand, and together, they walked into the chapel, where they could pay their respects.

Ana walked in first, Juice's hand at the small of her back. She gripped the sides of the coffin and sighed before opening her eyes to take her last look at Opie.

She'd always hated the way people said the dead looked peaceful, like they were sleeping. Opie didn't look like either. He looked dead. Dead before his time, and that pissed her off. Of all the people in the world, Opie was the last one to deserve this.

Drawing in a shaky breath, she placed the T-shirt beside him, and touched his cold hand softly.

"It's not going to be the same without you, mano," she whispered. "I hope you find happiness on the other side."

Ana stepped back as Juice stepped forward. His eyes were closed, and Ana heard him whispering the same prayer that he did at Half-Sack's memorial and the day that Kozic died. He opened his eyes and smiled sadly at Opie's body.

"Thanks, man. For everything. I love you, brother," he whispered, placing the bag in his hand. Some more tears fell from his eyes as he stepped away. Ana wrapped her arm around his waist and looked up at him.

"I love you," she said, seeing the grief in his eyes. "Don't do this alone, okay? Don't go to the bad place. Just stay here with me."

Juice sighed and kissed her temple before they walked out.

"Ditto, babes."

He rejoined his brothers as Ana stood next to Lyla and Gemma. It wasn't too long after when Jax came in, and Ana's heart broke all over again. His grief was almost tangible, it rolled off of him in waves. Gemma choked back a sob and Ana remembered that it was almost like she was losing another son. Gemma had practically raised Opie. She was the one who looked out for him when Piney was on a binge. For all intents and purposes, she was saying goodbye to another son of hers, and it was just another dark spot on an already dark day.

As the boys carried the coffin out, Ana made no attempt to stop the tears rolling down her face. Opie had touched everyone's lives, not just the men carrying him to rest. It wasn't fair that his life ended like this. His kids certainly didn't deserve this, either. To lose their mother, and now their father, because of the club? The more she stuck around, the more Ana realized why Juice was so understanding of her leaving to begin with. And it was even more of a reason why she felt the need to stick around. She didn't want Juice going through this alone.

Ana walked with Gemma and Lyla behind the coffin as they headed outside, her eyes on the back of Juice's head the entire time. When she saw his face, her heart clenched again. His jaw was square, and it was obvious he was trying to keep it together for his brothers, Jax especially. As they pushed the coffin into the hearse, Gemma took Ana's hand and squeezed.

"He's going to need you, sweetheart," she said softly. "Things like this, losing a brother, it hurts like hell."

Ana didn't speak. She just walked to Juice, who was still staring at the back of the hearse as if in a daze. She slipped her hand in his quietly. Juice's trance broke, and he looked down at their hands entwined.

"I love you, sweetheart," he said softly, pulling his hand out and putting his arm around her shoulder. "Let's go home."

"Home sounds good," Ana agreed. Together, they walked to her car, ready to put this day behind them.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Okay so I said this was going to be short, but it ended up being one of the longest I've ever written. Also, I needed some cuteness at the beginning before getting into the heavy. <strong>_

_**I hope you guys liked this one, it took all day to do. I redid it like three times.**_

_**Thanks to all the reviewers. Oh, we'll be finding out what Juice and Ana are having soon. Someone already knows, but she hasn't spoiled it yet. **_


	18. Chapter 18

A few days later had Juice sitting at the chapel table, irritated as hell with the new patch members. It seemed as if no matter what Jax said, those three always had to question it. Bobby could fill his frustration and kicked his foot under the table.

"Happy place, dude," he whispered.

Juice nodded, thinking of Ana and the baby. They were his happy place, lately. Things between them had finally gone back to normal. They had been talking about baby names, and had decided that if it was a boy, which Ana fully believed it way, the name would be Philip Jackson Ortiz. Juice had put up a little fuss with that, but when Ana said no son of hers would be named Happy, and once Happy threatened to cut off his head if a kid was named after him, Juice conceded. Jax did mean a lot to them, after all.

The girl's name, because Juice was pretty sure it was a girl, was a bit more difficult. Jenni had already named her kids after their mother, so her name was out. Elizabeth, Ana's mother, had to be in there somewhere. The first names were dwindled between Gianna or Lydia. Ana liked Lydia, Juice liked Gianna.

Juice turned his attention back to the conversation at hand, which was about how Charming felt about the home invasions.

"You guys are so full of shit," Tig was saying. "The town knows we're not behind this."

"You calling us liars, Tiggy?" Pogo asked, defensively.

"He's just saying that you, you, and you," Juice finally said, losing his temper as he pointed at Greg, Pogo, and Frankie, "don't know shit about how our town feels about us."

The table got silent, as it always did when Juice spoke out like that, but it didn't last long.

"I know Roosevelt and Corcoran is going to be up our ass if another attack happens!" Greg shot back. "We all know Corcoran has a hard on for you and that girl of yours-"

"Alright, enough," Jax said as Bobby grabbed Juice's arm, preventing him from charging at Greg. "Don't bring up members' Old Ladies. I'm sitting down with Pope later on today. If these attacks are black, they're going to stop. End of discussion."

They took a minute to calm down, Juice still seething at Greg's audacity. Chibs and Tig were glowering at the man, too, but Clay was looking at Juice as if he'd never seen him before. They'd been on eggshells since Juice had told Clay he was done with him after the Diosa incident, and now after Juice lost it on one of his patches, Clay knew that relationship was dead. The one member he'd counted on being there wasn't anymore.

* * *

><p>"So, you guys are going to be pimps?"<p>

Ana and Juice were in the backseat of her car, parked in front of a lake not too far from Charming. They were going to have a picnic but the rain caught up to them before they could get it set up, so they decided to improvise. Juice had just gotten done telling Ana about Jax's idea of running an escort service with Nero.

"Jax mainly, but if you want to get technical, then yeah," he said, entwining her hand with his. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"Nope," Ana said, grinning. "I'm not worried about you being a pimp. I'm just a little worried about you being surrounded by all those girls."

Juice laughed a little.

"Why? I've got all the free sex at home with my beautiful baby mama," he said, sliding his hand up her skirt.

"Ugh," Ana groaned as she pushed his hand away. "I hate that term."

"Well, you're more than my girlfriend," Juice said, shrugging.

Ana shook her head, grinning at his cluelessness. "You should try looking at my hands, you dork," she said, holding them out. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed."

Juice looked, and sure enough, her right hand, where his ring usually was, was bare. It was relocated to her left hand, with the heart pointing outward.

"Holy shit," Juice said, grinning. "Really?"

"If you want to," Ana replied, shrugging.

"Hell yeah, I want to!" Juice almost yelled. "You're going to marry me?"

"Yep," Ana said, laughing at his exuberance. He hadn't looked this excited since he found out about her being pregnant. He crawled into the driver's seat and looked back, with a devilish grin on his face.

"Buckle up," he said. "We gotta get home and celebrate."

* * *

><p>Juice was grumbling about being out with some Irish assholes rather than being home with his hot fiancee, having hot just engaged sex. Now he was just stuck outside on a hot day.<p>

"Quit your whining," Happy said.

"Wasn't whining out loud," Juice replied. "Finally fucking engaged, and can't even enjoy it."

Jax spun around as he heard Juice's words.

"Engaged?" Jax asked in disbelief. "Holy shit, Juice is becoming a man. Our ickle little boy is all grown up, fellas."

Juice pretended to be offended, but still couldn't help the stupid grin that spread across his face as Chibs and Bobby offered their congratulations to him.

However, that part was short lived as Jax and one of the Irish, Gaalen or whatever his name was, got into a fight. Juice didn't trust the Irish anymore than Jax did, so he called for Jax to kick his ass. Juice still remembered the bullshit that went down in Belfast, and was still ticked that not everyone paid for it. However, that thought went away when he saw the cartel coming in.

"Alright Jax, knock it off," he called out, motioning to the road. However, neither of the two prizefighters wanted to quit, so Juice just shrugged, and continued to watch them as Romeo and his crew got out.

It was going to be a long ass day.

* * *

><p>Ana sighed as she followed Phil to the place where the club was supposed to be meeting. Juice didn't say much, just that he needed a ride home.<p>

Ana saw why as soon as she pulled up to the barn.

"Holy shit," she said as Juice headed her way. Most of the guys bikes were trashed. Some were still burning. Chibs and Jax were talking, and Chibs looked pissed.

"Sorry, baby," he said, kissing her lightly.

"What the hell happened?" Ana asked, looking at the bikes in disbelief.

Juice rolled his eyes. "Angry Irish. Give me a minute and I'll be ready. We need to get somewhere fast, so we can secure that place for that thing I told you about."

He was talking about the escort service. Jacob Hale was giving them a hard time, and Ana guessed that they had found a way around it.

"Where am I taking you? "Ana asked. "And how many? "

"Me, Happy, and Chibs. First to my old apartment, then to a law office in town. That okay?"

Ana nodded. "Sounds good to me. "

Happy and Chibs got in the backseat, still talking about what had happened with the Irish. Jax had gotten into a fight with one of the IRA Kings, and he took out his frustration by shooting up their bikes. Chibs, being Scottish, was babbling on about the filthy Irish scum. Ana was doing her best to ignore their conversation, and it seemed as if Juice was, too. He took her hand as she followed his directions to his old place.

"I thought I got everything," she said as they pulled into the driveway.

"Nah," Juice said. "I had a place where I hid the shit I needed for the club. I didn't want it in our house, just in case."

With a wink, he ran up the stairs to his apartment, leaving her with Chibs and Happy, who had gotten quiet.

"We heard your news," Chibs said after a moment. "Getting married, right?"

Ana turned to see Chibs with a big grin on his face. Happy looked, well, happy too.

"I'm proud of both of you," Chibs continued. "The boy needs a lass like you. You keep him level, and you've turned him into a great man."

"He already was a good man," Ana said. "I didn't have anything to do with that."

"No," Chibs conceded. "But you did have a lot with him being able to come out of that shell he's hidden behind. No one sees him as the idiot anymore. He's come a long way, because of you, darling."

"He's right," Happy said. "Yeah, Juice was always a great person, but what you did with him, it's unbelievable. Jax sees it, too. Says Juice has a big chance of moving up in the club later on down the line."

They sat in silence for a while, waiting for Juice to get back. Ana loved the guys in her backseat, but it still made her a little mad that they couldn't see Juice for the man he was until she came along. She knew from the moment they met he was a good person. He had a heart of gold, and his loyalty knew no bounds. Why it took her to make others see it, she would never know.

* * *

><p>Ana didn't know what Juice had to do with his camera, but after she dropped them off at the office, she decided to head home. She had a painting to finish, and then she wanted to relax in a bath with her sexy fiance.<p>

However, once it became obvious Juice was going to be late, she decided to take the bath on her own. Maybe when he came in, he'd see her there and they'd pick up where they left off earlier that day.

After the water went cold, Ana decided to give it up as a bad day. She got out and wrapped a robe around her. She was just about to head into her bedroom when she heard the front door kick in. She heard a jumble of voices, and without taking a minute to think, she grabbed her gun from the bathroom counter and, quietly but quickly, went into her bedroom closet. She cocked the gun and waited.

She heard the bedroom door open and heard three sets of feet walk in. Peering through the slats, she could three three masked white guys walk in and begin dumping out her jewelry box.

"Juice doesn't keep his money here in his bitch's house," one guy said.

"She's got money somewhere, though," another one said. "Boss said so. Said Jax gave her some two years ago."

"Juice probably has it with him. Isn't she supposed to be home?" the first voice said eagerly. "Cause I'm telling you, that girl is fine as shit."

"We can't hurt her, man. She's pregnant," a third voice said quietly.

"That just means she can't get pregnant again," the second voice said heartily.

Ana drew in her breath as they got closer to the closet, but then she heard a familiar sound. The roar of a motorcycle.

"Shit! He's home!" the second voice said.

"Out the window!" the first said, shooting a gun through the glass. There was a scuffle, then all was quiet for a brief moment. Once Ana knew they were gone, she uncocked her gun and collapsed in tears on the closet floor, holding her stomach as the sobs escaped her.

"Ana!" she heard Juice say frantically. "Baby, answer me!"

Ana tried to answer but she couldn't. She could hear Juice running into the room, and the closet door was practically ripped off the hinges as he swung it open fearfully.

"Ana, baby, are you okay?" Juice asked, pulling her up and looking her over frantically.

"M'fine," Ana said, trying to control herself. "They didn't find me."

Juice looked over at the window and laughed in relief when he saw something he didn't expect to see.

"It's okay, baby," he said as she cried. His eyes were fixated on the broken glass and the window pane, where blood was still dripping. "I'm going to call the police, and Chibs and Hap, and we're going to be okay. I promise."

"Juice," she said, hiccuping. "They..they knew you. They knew me. They knew about the money Jax gave me, they knew too much."

Juice's eyes widened as he dialed 911.

"I'll take care of it, sweetheart," he said, kissing her temple.

And he would. Once he found out who these bastards were, and he would because they left their blood in his house, they were dead.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Short chapter, I know, but I liked writing it. I decided to replace Rita's attack with the home invasion on Ana. Mostly as revenge for Juice coming at Greg in the beginning. Also because I liked Eli and Rita, and I don't agree with killing her off. Never have, never will. <strong>_

_**And yay, they're engaged now! The next chapter is going to have some club drama and some fluff for them, I'm thinking about them finding out the baby's sex.**_

_**Anyway, I'm off to work on chapter 19 now. Thank you to you awesome reviewers. **_


	19. Chapter 19

Eli Roosevelt stood with Juice as Ana sat on the couch, drinking some tea that Chibs had made for her. Eli decided to handle this case personally. He liked Ana a lot, and he was even growing to like Juice as well. It was obvious that Juice wasn't like the other SAMCRO members. The safety of his family came before the club, and Eli liked seeing that someone had their priorities straight.

"Blood is on the window pane they broke in our room," Juice said to Roosevelt. "They didn't take much, they were looking for money. Ana's money in particular."

Eli nodded as they walked into the room.

"Cut like that," Eli said, observing how much blood was pooled on the glass and windowsill. "It's going to need some serious medical attention. They probably got a femoral."

Juice nodded, and looked back at Ana, who was talking softly to Chibs with a hand on her stomach. Juice noticed that she had an obvious swell now, and couldn't help but smile. The smile faded when he remembered how close the guys were to finding her, and anger filled his gut again.

Eli caught his gaze and smiled a little.

"Congratulations," he said. Juice looked back and saw Eli looking at Ana's stomach.

"Thanks," Juice said. "So what do we do?"

Eli sat on the bed and rubbed the back of his head.

"My advice?" he said. "Get your fiancee out for a while. Have her stay with someone you know the attackers won't go for. A higher up, like the Scot, or maybe that scary bastard, Happy or whatever. Keep her safe. Especially if they're looking for her money."

Juice nodded in agreement as Chibs walked in.

"She's good with me," he said, having heard the sheriff's advice. "Just pack a bag for the two of yas and you can crash at my place. I could use the company."

Juice gave Chibs an appreciative grin. "Thanks, bro," he said.

"I'll get the DNA to the lab," Eli said, clapping his back. "You all stay safe, and call if you have any more information."

Juice nodded and began packing Ana's bag. Chibs began packing one for Juice.

"Juice," he said, hesitantly. "You got any idea who this might be?"

Juice shook his head angrily. "No," he said. "But I am going to be looking for a limping Son first thing in the morning."

* * *

><p>Juice decided to forgo the chapel meeting, giving Chibs a proxy vote for upping the drug muling operation. He voted against it, because he didn't want to go even deeper into this bullshit. The reasons why were obvious, and they were both laying back on a examination table in front of him.<p>

"I still think this is pushing it," Ana said. "We're both fine."

"I just want to be sure, baby," he said, kissing the hand he was holding in his.

Tara came in with a smile and an ultrasound cart.

"Bloodwork looks great, Ana," she said. "But still, I know how worried Juice is, so I thought seeing the baby would help calm his nerves, and it would help you, too."

Ana rolled her eyes playfully but returned Tara's smile. "Alright,' she conceded. "Let's see the munchkin."

Juice grinned happily. He was happy he'd decided to skip the meeting, because this was one thing he couldn't excuse missing. He watched as Tara put the gel on Ana's stomach, then waved the wand around a few times, before stopping with a smile.

"There you are," she said, as if talking to a child. "There you go, Mommy and daddy. There's a beating heart right there."

The sound of the heartbeat filled the room, and Juice felt himself relax as he took it all in,

"There's the hands, and there's the legs," Tara said, and then smiled. "Do you want to know what you're having?"

Juice and Ana looked at each other questioningly.

"Nah," Ana said. "I know it's a boy."

Juice shook his head and looked at Tara.

"Let's prove her wrong, Doc," he said, making Tara laugh. She zoomed in and stopped, turning the screen over to Ana with a huge smile.

"Looks like Daddy's right," she said. "You're having a little girl."

Ana, instead of looking disappointed, had a huge smile come across her face. Juice's smile was so bright, it could have lit up a dark theater.

"Hey, baby girl," Ana cooed to her stomach. "Oh, that makes me so happy."

"Me too," Juice said, placing his hand over the place where his child grew. His daughter.

Tara stood back to let Ana and Juice have their moment. Tara was happy it was a girl, too, and she suspected her reasons were the same as the parents. If the child was a boy, it was almost inevitable that he would become a Son. A girl was a welcome addition for sure.

Juice looked up at Ana's face, happy tears in his eyes. Ana placed her hand on his cheek and sighed in contentment.

"Gianna," she said, giving in to his name choice gracefully. "Gianna Elizabeth Ortiz."

* * *

><p>After dropping Ana off at Chibs's place, Juice rode to the clubhouse, ready to give the good news to everyone. His kid was now a daughter, and she had a name.<p>

He got off his bike and stopped short when he say Clay and the nomads walking out. He noticed Gogo limping a bit, so he made his way over, keeping his temper in check.

"Hey, Clay," he said, his eyes still on Gogo. "Hear about my house last night?"

Clay nodded.

"Yeah, sorry man. Ana okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Juice replied. "Just got back from the doctor. Both her and the baby are fine. What happened to your leg, Gogo?"

Gogo laughed a little. "You know how it is," he said. "Tried playing basketball with Frankie, tore a muscle."

Juice tsked in mock sympathy. "Sucks. But anyway, I thought I'd give you guys a heads up. Hopefully Eli will call me back with the results. One of the people cut themselves on some glass, left a lot of blood behind."

Juice gauged their reactions, and sure enough, the three nomads paled. Shaking his head, Juice walked into the clubhouse, leaving them behind to handle their own bullshit. His work was done for now.

"It passed," Chibs said reluctantly as Juice grabbed a beer. Juice scoffed; he knew it would somehow but it didn't make him feel any easier. "How'd the baby thing go?"

Jax perked up at the question, and he made his way over with Happy and Bobby. They could all use some good news.

"She's fine. Both of them, actually," Juice said. "Found out what it was, too."

Juice relished in the anticipation as he took another drink of his beer.

"Well are we going to have to guess or are you going to tell us this year?" Bobby finally asked.

Juice chuckled.

"I'm having a daughter, guys," he said. The guys whooped and hollered, clapping him on the back.

"A girl, that'll make things more interesting," Jax said.

"Hell yeah, gives us old asses something to do when she's a teenager," Happy said, his eyes far away imagining the scared faces of the guys he'd be fending off.

Jax gave a smile, one he hadn't had for a few weeks now.

"Congratulations, man," he said. "Whatever you guys need, you got it."

Juice thanked Jax, and grinned at the guys around him. For the first time in a long time, the club felt like a family again.

* * *

><p>Ana cursed as she saw bikes pull in behind her. She'd gotten a call from Gemma to meet her at a hotel, but it looked as if Gemma had also called someone else, and she had beaten the club there by a second.<p>

Gemma wasn't doing good these days, Ana could tell that much. Losing her spot as Queen seemed to have taken its toll on her. Things with Nero didn't seem to be working out, either, and Gemma, for all intents and purposes, was more alone than ever. Ana was busy with Juice and the baby, Tara was too busy juggling her regular life with the outlaw life, and Jax was too wrapped up in being king.

Ana thought about these things as she got out of the car. Jax spotted her and headed over, confused.

"She tell you why we should be meeting her here?" Jax asked.

Ana shook her head.

"She just called, said her car was stolen, and asked me to come get her," she explained.

Jax froaned and looked back at the club. Nero seemed to be with them, and he gave her a friendly wave as Jax debated about what to do.

"Go on home," he said. "We got it."

Ana scoffed.

"No," she said. Jax whirled around, in complete disbelief that she'd outright defied him. "Gemma called me. I'll take her home."

"I'm not dealing with my crazy mom and Juice's hormonal fiancee right now," he said angrily.

"I'm not asking you to deal with me, Teller," Ana said, just as heatedly. "I'm just doing what my friend asked me to do. I don't take orders from you."

And, ignoring the stunned look on Jax's face, Ana brushed past him and headed towards Gemma.

"Hey," she said, hugging her.

"I'm going to kill Nero for telling them," Gemma murmured, listlessly. Ana could smell the weed and beer on her breath, and sighed. Gemma was definitely on a downward spiral.

Jax strode over then, a look of disgust on his face.

"What the hell happened?" he asked. Ana blanched at the tone in his voice. It was cold, distant, and condescending, and it was no way for a guy, even one like Jax, to talk to his mother.

Gemma stared back, keeping her head up. "I crashed here last night, and someone stole my caddy."

Jax rolled his eyes and tsked in disbelief.

"Someone?" he asked mockingly, going into the hotel room. Ana wanted to slap the tone out of his voice, but she knew all that would do was cause problems between Jax and Juice later. Jax came out, holding a bottle.

"Since when do you drink banana vodka?" he asked harshly.

"Jax, that's enough," Ana snapped.

"You stay out of this. All you're here to do is give my mom a ride home, remember?" Jax shot back.

Nero placed a calm hand on Ana's shoulder before she could retort as he looked at Gemma.

"What happened?" he asked gently, but firmly.

Gemma sighed in defeat.

"I woke up to use the bathroom. He stole my wallet and my SUV," she said, her tone full of regret. "I don't remember his name."

"Jesus Christ," Jax sneered. "Who are you?"

Ana glared at Jax. She'd never had many problems with him before, but the man in front of her this afternoon was pissing her the hell off. Maybe it was the fact she saw Gemma as her mother, since she had no mom of her own. Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones. Maybe it was the fact that, MC president or not, if any son of hers talked to her like that, it'd be the last thing he'd ever do.

Gemma just gave Jax a painful look, and walked away. Ana sighed and leaned against the wall of the hotel, trying to keep her emotions in check. Nero walked after Gemma, and Ana heard her tell him she didn't need Jax's shit right now. Ana walked over and put her arm around Gemma.

"Come on, Ma," she said, sending Jax a hateful glare. "I'll take you home."

"Sorry you got pulled into this," Jax said to Nero as Ana and Gemma began walking to Ana's car. "She's a fucking train wreck."

Ana stopped and turned to see what Nero would say to that. If he didn't say something, she sure as fuck would.

Nero looked at Gemma, Ana, then Jax and shook his head.

"She's still your mom, ese. Respect that," he said. "She's caught between a husband she hates, and a kid who she thinks hates her. It's enough to make anyone crazy. Go easy."

"Ana, let's go," Gemma said softly. With another contempt filled glare at Jax, Ana led Gemma to her car, praying to God she would never have a child as ungrateful as the one she saw today.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Juice was at the clubhouse with his own problems. Tara was needing his help with sorting through old pictures to send to Otto. Why she needed his help, he didn't know, because Otto had already been inside when he got to Charming. The fact was, though, that up until recently he had been closest to Clay, and Clay did show him a lot of pictures of the club before Juice had come along. And, since Juice stored information well, he was as good a help as any.<p>

"So, Gianna?" Tara asked, putting a picture of Bobby aside. "Beautiful name."

"It was my mom's middle name," Juice said. "Here, this one of Otto and Luanne will help. He loved her to death."

"Thanks," Tara said. "But then again it may hurt more than help, he does blame the club for her death still."

"Oh, yeah," Juice said, taking the picture back and sighing.

Tara smiled, putting the box away.

"You're excited to have a girl, huh?" she asked Juice as she sat back down.

"Yeah," he replied, grinning as he always did when someone mentioned Ana or the baby. "I'm relieved, too."

"Relieved?" Tara asked, in pleasant disbelief.

"I don't want my kid inheriting...this," Juice said. "It's not what it used to be, you know?"

Tara nodded, still shocked that Juice was on her same wavelength.

Juice continued. "I mean, yeah, I love the club. I'd die for this club, but Ana and Gia? I'd die for them first."

"That's refreshing, Juice," Tara replied. "Really, I'm glad one of you has some sense."

Juice laughed with Tara, but both of their laughs faltered when Clay entered the room.

"Sorry, didn't know anyone was in here," he said gruffly. He looked at the pictures in front of them and sighed.

"Otto, huh?" he asked inquistively.

Juice nodded, but Tara just ignored him.

"We're going to have to say something to each other sooner or later, you know?" Clay asked Tara, who scoffed.

"No, we won't," she said, getting up to leave.

"Jax should have killed me."

Tara stopped and Juice looked at Clay in disbelief. Where was he going with this?

Clay looked at the two of them and shook his head.

"We all know we're living on borrowed time."

"I'm supposed to feel sorry for you?" Tara asked sarcastically.

"No," Clay said. "You're supposed to hate me. Like you do."

Juice wanted to leave so badly, but he knew that he should stay. Between Clay and Tara, it was hard to tell who hated the other more. Jax would never forgive him if either of them got hurt. Tara because it was his wife; Clay because he had plans for him later. So Juice stayed, and tried his best not to listen to the conversation.

Tara just shook her head.

"You're not on borrowed time," she said. "To me, you're dead already. So stay away."

She walked out, leaving Juice to face Clay.

"You feel the same way?" Clay asked, sitting down.

Juice shrugged.

"I don't know man," he said. "What you did to her and Gemma? Getting in my head, almost making me lose my girlfriend? Yeah, that last one was on me, but you set the seed there, man, and some shit's hard to get past. You're not dead to me, but I'm definitely not the one you need to be spilling your soul to."

And with that, Juice got up and walked out, too, not wanting to stick around. He was scared if he did, he may actually start to feel sorry for Clay, and he didn't want to have that shit on him, too.

* * *

><p>Ana sat in the clubhouse with Juice, still ticked off about what happened with Jax. She hadn't told Juice, nor had she planned on it. They were looking at different rooms to put Gianna in. Juice was pressing for a pink Harley theme, and Ana was casually trying to compromise into maybe a pink Harley teddy bear, while doing a pink and brown theme in the nursery.<p>

Jax came in, and saw the couple huddled by Juice's computer.

"Hey, Ana, talk to you a minute?' he asked.

Clenching her jaw, she nodded, and followed Jax to the bar, with Juice watching after both of them, confused.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Jax said sincerely. "Really. There's no excuse."

Ana softened her expression some.

"You need to say that to her, not me," she said. "I get touchy when people treat their moms like trash. Be thankful you have one, Jax. Gemma needs you."

Jax sighed and grinned apologetically.

"I keep forgetting you're not my sister, sometimes," he admitted. "Gemma treats you so much like her daughter, and you bust my balls so much that it feels like we're related."

Ana laughed, all ire with him forgotten.

"Just don't do it again, Teller. Now go apologize to Mom."

Laughing, Jax walked out in search of Gemma and Ana headed back to Juice, happy she and Jax settled things.

"Everything okay?" Juice asked as she sat back down.

"Yeah," she said with a contented sigh. "Everything is great."

* * *

><p><em><strong>So I kinda combined S5E6 with 'Toad's Wild Ride', and I'll be doing the other half of "TWR" in the next chapter.<strong>_

_**Is everyone cool with how I have Juice with Clay, and non-canon Juice in general? And what do you think about the kid's name?**_

_**Anyway, as always, stay cool, people! I appreciate you all!**_


	20. Chapter 20

Ana sat on a couch outside the chapel, still in disbelief over what they'd heard. It had been the nomads who had been doing the home invasions. Greg and Gogo were killed by Unser, and Frankie was on the run. It didn't make sense to Ana as she told Jax what she'd heard that night. The nomads had a boss, and they were on orders not to hurt her, although they had been considering not following through.

Now she was waiting for Juice to get done, so they could go home. Ana was tired, and her back was hurting a bit. Now that the nomads were either dead or gone, they could go back to their house.

The doors opened and Juice came out, looking a little frustrated.

"What's wrong, baby?" she asked, getting up. He took her hand and pressed his forehead against hers for a moment before letting out a ragged breath.

"Nothing, babes," he said. "I'm just relieved they're gone. After hearing that they were wanting to...I'm just glad it was Unser that got them."

Ana smiled sadly as she kissed his cheek. He was sweet to worry about her, but he was forgetting one little thing.

"They wouldn't have hurt me," she said, a smirk on her face as she remembered that night. "I was carrying, remember?"

Juice chuckled a little as Jax came out, looking as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. In all fairness, he probably was. He gave Juice and Ana a curious look before glancing out the window. He cursed as he saw Tara pull in with the kids.

"Shit," he said, headed out the door. Juice and Ana followed him, confused.

"What?" Ana asked.

"Tara and me are supposed to go to the cabin for a few days," he replied.

Juice pursed his lips, thinking.

"It's not a bad idea, prez," he said. "Cops are going to be all over the place for the next few days because of this. You can run things from there for a while."

Tara got the kids out of the car, and Abel ran towards Jax, giggling as Phil chased him. Tara was laughing as she carried Thomas, and Ana took the carseat from her.

"Hey baby boy," Ana cooed as she set Thomas on the picnic table. Abel found Juice and they were play-wrestling nearby as Jax and Tara kissed each other.

"Elyda bailed on us again," Tara said wearily. "Something about her mom. I got a pediatric nurse I can trust. I'm sorry, babe."

"What about Gemma watching them?" Jax asked as Ana looked on. Tara looked as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. "Come on, babe, you gotta cut her a little slack."

"I'll ride with her," Ana said suddenly, noticing the hesitation on Tara's face. Juice and Jax looked at her as if she was crazy. "Make sure we get there in one piece. Juice can follow us."

Tara looked much happier at this sentiment, and nodded.

"That'll work," she said. "Thanks, Ana."

Tara walked off to call Gemma, and Juice sat with Abel next to Ana.

"You sure about this, baby?" he asked. Ana nodded with a smile.

"I don't want them to miss their vacation," she said. "Plus, if Gemma isn't up to it, I can drive the kids to her house. We got it."

Juice grinned as he played with Abel. Ana always knew the right thing to do. She loved these kids to death, and he knew that if Gemma wasn't able to drive, she would do it herself. She was just as tired of the infighting as he was, and all she wanted was to keep things peaceful between everyone.

However, there was something Juice wasn't telling her. He hadn't even told Jax of the suspicions he was having. Ever since Ana mentioned the nomads getting their orders from someone higher up, he was seriously suspecting that Clay had something to do with it. He didn't know how to address it. Besides, Frankie Diamonds was still out there, and if anyone would confirm the suspicions, he would. Then he would die, either at Jax's hand or Juice's, because he was the one who threatened to hurt Ana. There was no doubt in Juice's mind it was him.

* * *

><p>Ana watched as Gemma loaded Abel and Thomas into her car with a skeptical eye. Gemma was acting sluggish, and it looked as if she was going to be driving after all. She and Juice shared a look, and Juice nodded sternly. He wasn't about to let Ana be a passenger if Gemma was high, and it was best if he tried to get Gemma to hand Ana the keys first.<p>

"Hey, Gem," he said brightly. "Let Ana drive."

Gemma looked at Juice warily.

"I'm fine," she said, and her voice was low and slow, meaning she wasn't fine at all. Juice lifted his eyebrow in warning.

"Gem, I own a weed store, I know when someone is high," he said firmly. "Either hand Ana the keys or I'll call Jax and Tara."

Ana looked at Gemma pleadingly, then sighed in relief as Gemma relented and handed over the keys.

"Okay," she said. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Ana said, relieved. It had gone easier than she expected, but the first priority was to keep Thomas and Abel safe. Ana got behind the wheel as Juice mounted his bike. They took off toward Gemma's place, neither of them noticing the brown van following them.

It hadn't been five minutes before Ana saw Juice speed past them, with someone tailing him.

"What the hell?" Ana asked, speeding up a little. She then saw the van pull into the other lane, and screamed when she saw the gunfire erupt. She saw Juice's bike veer off the road, and Ana looked back at the boys before punching the gas.

"Ana, what are you doing?" Gemma asked.

"I gotta see if he's okay!" Ana cried as the van sped off. She pulled the car to the side of the road and hopped out, looking down the hill at Juice bike. It was okay, and she saw a movement in the bushes, and then the click of a gun.

"Juice, it's me!" she cried out, trying to make her way down the hill. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, stay up there, though," he groaned. "I gotta get this bike back up there."

Ana stayed where she was as Juice pushed his bike up the hill. He brushed the limbs and grass off his clothes as Ana checked him for any cuts or scrapes.

"I'm good, babe," he said, kissing her cheek. "You guys okay?" he asked Gemma, who had the window down.

"We're fine, sweetie," she said compassionately. "Let's get to my place before they decide to come back."

Juice agreed, and, with another kiss from Ana, he got back on his bike, and followed them back to Gemma's place. He saw the shooters before they took off, and they were definitely black. He was going to place a call to Jax the minute they were at Gemma's. He'd passed the car so that way if the van had opened fire (and they did just that), it wouldn't harm Ana, Gemma, or the kids.

Whoever this was, they were targeting the families now, and Juice was not having any of that shit.

* * *

><p>"Yeah, man...I'm good, how about you and Chibs?" Juice was asking.<p>

Ana was shaking. Abel was asleep and Gemma was feeding Thomas as she waited in the front room for Juice to get done with his call. It looked as if the same people who attacked him had gotten to Jax and Chibs as well. Same experience. The van had pulled up beside them and opened fire, except this time, Jax and Chibs fired back and had killed one of the shooters.

"Yeah...yeah we're all okay. Abel's out and Gem is feeding Tommy...no problem. Night," Juice said, hanging up.

He looked over at Ana, who offered a small smile, but he could still see the fear in her eyes. He'd promised her he wouldn't put her in danger, yet here it was.

"I'm sorry, baby," he said, sitting next to her and pulling her close to him. "Shit keeps fucking up."

Ana didn't speak, just placed her hand on her stomach, where their daughter was growing. He placed his hand over hers and sighed as he began to calm down. He felt a movement and smiled a little.

"We're going to be okay," Ana whispered. "I don't care what happens, babe. As long as you're coming home to me in one piece, I can deal with everything else. I'm an Old Lady, that's my job."

Juice smiled a little, feeling at ease as he felt Gianna move again. All Ana wanted was for him to stay safe, and it's all he wanted from her as well. His girls meant everything to him, and now he realized why Chibs was so intense about Kerianne and Fiona while they were in Ireland. When you had a family, one you helped create rather than one you chose, something changed within you. Priorities shift, and everything important becomes more clear. That's what was happening with Juice. Ana and Gia were his priority above all else, and keeping them safe was his job, his calling.

"I love you," he whispered to Ana. "Both of you," he added as he carressed her stomach.

"We love you, too," she replied as Gemma walked back in. Juice shook his head to Ana, not wanting to tell her about Jax being ambushed right now.

"My boy okay?" she asked, as Ana stood to get something to drink.

"Yeah," he replied quickly. "They made it okay. He said we'll find out who the people were in the van are."

"Any suspicions?" Gemma asked as Ana brought back two cups of tea. She handed one to Gemma and sat down next to Juice.

"I don't know," Juice admitted. He was keeping his own suspicions to himself until he could speak to Jax face to face.

Gemma and Ana traded a look, and Juice had a feeling they had the same suspicions that he did. It wasn't right. The man they had all loved and respected at one time, was now getting to be one they hated the most.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Short chapter, but I have some ideas for the next. This may be a two chapter day if I get things done right.<strong>_

_**I didn't have Gemma crash the car. I promised a partially canon story, so partially canon it will be.**_


	21. Chapter 21

Juice was sitting on his elbows, staring at her with a big smile on his face when Ana woke up a few mornings later. Ana returned the smile hesitantly as she sat up, looking at the clock as she did. It was seven in the morning, early for Juice, and way too early for him to be this happy.

"What'd you do?" she asked, only half kidding.

"Oh, nothing," he said, in a sing song voice. "I was wondering if you ever remembered when our anniversary was, though."

Ana thought about it, and laughed when she realized that she couldn't remember it. They never kept track of dates, she never felt the need to. She didn't realize that he did, though.

"No," she said guiltily, which just made Juice laugh and kiss her sweetly.

"I don't know, either," he admitted. "But that's why I say today is our anniversary. Today, September 16th. It's our third anniversary. So happy anniversary, baby."

Ana laughed as he kissed her again. She was engaged to one of the sweetest and goofiest men in the world. From the outside looking in, it wouldn't look like the most romantic gesture, but for Juice, it was more romantic than a tub filled with rose petals.

"Is that why you're up at the crack of dawn, grinning like an idiot?" she asked, getting up and grabbing some clothes for the day. He came behind her and pulled out a red polka dot sundress, and lifted his eyebrow, a questioning smile on his face.

"Part of it," he answered, grinning as she undressed and took the dress from him. "Other part is that since it is our anniversary-"

"-that you spontaneously decided would be today," she interuppted, turning her back to him so he could do the top buttons.

"Not spontaneously, you snarky little devil," he said affectionately with a kiss to her shoulder. "I decided it yesterday. Anyway, we need a Juan and Ana day again."

Ana turned quickly, a big smile on her face.

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"Yep," he said, nodding over to the outfit he had out for himself. A black t-shirt with a black beanie and baggy blue jeans. "Beanie's to cover the head tattoos."

"Jax's okay with this?" Ana asked in disbelief as Juice got dressed. He nodded, putting his kutte in her closet and grabbing his tennis shoes.

"He encouraged it," Juice replied, tying them quickly and grabbing a black sweater for her before taking her hand and leading her out the bedroom, and the house in general.

"No food?" Ana asked, seemingly devastated for the moment. Juice stopped for a moment and pondered that before shrugging.

"Fuck it, we'll get breakfast on the way there," he said, tugging her hand again. With a laugh, she let Juice lead her to the car, and their mystery vacation was underway.

* * *

><p>Juice grinned as they passed the Charming sign, ready for the two day break he was getting from Jax. Things were getting crazy around town, and Juice felt like he was losing it. He didn't want to be the guy that lost it and made bad decisions, so he told Jax what was going on, and how he wanted to get away with Ana. Thankfully, Jax was in an agreeable mood.<p>

So, after spending a few hours the night before researching what to do, Juice had narrowed it down to going to the Point Reyes Seashore near San Francisco. He'd already packed Ana's clothes (and his) while she slept, and he was excited to spend this time with her while he could. He knew that between the club, and the baby coming, these trips would be hard to come by after today.

He took her hand as they got on the interstate, and the smile Ana shot him was almost heartstopping, as always. In this life, a woman had to be as tough as nails, but Juice knew that no matter what front they put on, women like Ana, Tara, and Gemma liked to be treated like the queens that they were. They wanted to have dates with their husbands, be romanced properly. Juice wasn't going to give up a chance to see that smile come across his fiancee's face. She deserved someone who could treat her right. Someone who knew how to protect her, but also who could show her the love she needed.

"What's on your mind, babe?" she asked as he drove on.

"You, as always," he said, grinning a little at the blush that creeped up her cheeks.

"Smooth talker," she joked a little, squeezing his hand. "However did I fall for that?"

"You didn't," Juice said plainly, with a big smile on his face. "I think it was the elevator."

"No, it was some time before that, I think," Ana admitted, giving him a guilty smile. "I was attracted to you before I left for my dad's funeral."

Juice laughed triumphantely.

"I knew it!" he exclaimed. "When, exactly?"

_Ana was sitting at a bar, nervously tapping her foot as she waited for him to show up. _

_She'd called Juice, mainly because she didn't know who else to call. Gemma was tied up with Opie's kids, and Juice was the only other person she knew well enough who would tell her what she needed to do._

_She spotted those stupid head tattoos come through the door, and she nervously took a shot of whiskey before he spotted her, then winced when she realized she had to drive later._

_"Hey," Juice said, taking the seat next to her. "You sounded really desperate on the phone."_

_"I am," Ana said, brushing her hair behind her ear and looking around. "I don't think I can do this."_

_"Do what?" Juice asked, shaking his head when the bartender went to refill Ana's glass._

_"My dad's funeral. What if I do some stupid shit, like cry? I hate him, I'm not sad he's gone. So what if I cry? People are going to feel sorry for me, and tell me they're sorry for their loss, and I'll just say I'm not, then I'll look like a bitch. But they'll excuse it because I just lost my dad and I'm not thinking right, except I will be thinking right and-"_

_"Whoa," Juice said, putting a finger over her lips. "Calm down. Take a deep breath."_

_Ana did, and Juice grinned when she started to relax listened to the music playing and looked back where he saw some people dancing and smiled again._

_"Come on. Let's dance," he said. _

_"Excuse you?" she asked, surprised._

_"You need to relax and not think about your dad for a few minutes, and it's not like you can drive right now, so let's dance. Friends dance all the time."_

_"Not to slow songs," Ana protested._

_"Well, we can be the first," Juice said, unaffected. He held out his hand and she sighed and took it. He led her to the dance floor and placed his hands lightly on her hips as she wrapped hers around his neck._

_It was nice, Ana thought, as she just quit thinking and moved with Juice. He was looking at her and the concern melted away to happiness when he saw she was beginning to enjoy herself. She felt like she could do this every day. Vent to Juice, and then do whatever crazy thing he suggested to take the edge off._

_Ana was a little put off when the song ended, but then Juice pulled her closer as another one began to play. This song was had a little more tempo, and Juice let her follow his lead as he danced with her again, grinning as he watched her worries fade away._

_And as they danced in a small Lodi bar, Ana began realizing just how much Juice was beginning to mean to her. And it scared the hell out of her._

"I can't believe you remember that," Juice said, laughing again as Ana recounted the memory to him. "We should do that more often. Can you believe that I've never danced with anyone before then?"

"You were good, babe," Ana said. "So no, I don't believe it."

"Well it's true," Juice protested with a smile. It was. He'd recognized Ana's breakdown, and just did the first thing he could think of. He was improving that entire night, doing what came natural to him, just to make sure Ana was out of the scary place she was in. It was the night before she had left for Seattle, and he'd already been halfway in love with her. He had no clue she'd been feeling the same way before she left, and it made him happy to know that was the case.

Juice continued to drive, and the smile on Ana's face when she saw the ocean made everything worth it. She actually squealed with happiness and thanked him so many times as they drove to the place where they'd be spending their newly appointed anniversary.

"We're going camping?" Ana asked in disbelief as Juice passed the sign pointing to the campgrounds.

"We're going to try," he admitted with a grin. "I was hoping you knew how to put a tent together."

"Wow," Ana asked, a look of playful shock on her face. "My bad ass biker boy can assemble guns and bikes, and can hack into the US Government just for fun, but give him a tent and he is clueless."

Juice parked the car in the spot he'd reserved and grinned as they got out. They were on a bluff that overlooked the ocean. The bluff itself was beautiful, with red and yellow wildflowers scattered everywhere. That, with the green grass and the blue water, made a beautiful place for him to bring his beautiful fiancee. He felt in his pocket for something and, feeling it, took Ana's hand and led her to the edge of the bluff.

"Beautiful, right?" she asked, happiness exuding from her.

"You got that right," he said, not taking his eyes off of her. "Hey baby?"

"Yeah?" she asked, looking up at him. Juice smiled and kissed her softly.

"I love you," he said. "And I mean that. Like, every part of me loves every part of you."

"I love you, too, Juan," Ana replied, confused. "And all of your parts."

Juice grinned but kept her hand in his.

"I know that you kinda asked me to marry you already, but I was thinking I wanted to do this, and do it right."

"Do what?" Ana asked, then gasped as Juice got on one knee, pulling another ring box out of his pocket.

"Ana," he said softly. "I love you. Will you marry me?"

Ana looked at the ring in the box he had opened and gasped. It was a white gold band with a sapphire heart.

"Yes," she said tearfully. "Of course."

Juice grinned, and got up to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around him, and sighed as he pulled his mouth away from hers.

"You're not mad are you?" he asked.

"Hell no," she said, looking at the ring that was still in the box questioningly. "Where'd you get that?"

Juice smiled softly as they walked back to the car.

"It was my mom's," he explained. "Jenni sent it to me. If you want, you can put it on your chain, or your ring finger. It doesn't matter."

"My chain," Ana decided. "It was your mom's. I wish I could have met her, but since I couldn't, I can wear her ring, close to my heart, on my own mother's chain. That fair?"

Juice grinned as he watched her unclasp her necklace to slide the ring on. He helped her put the necklace back on, and kissed the back of her neck when he was done.

"We should get that tent up," he whispered in her ear as he trailed kisses up her neck.

"We should," Ana said, pulling away from him and going to the car. She gave him a sexy smile as she did. "You just going to watch my ass, or are you going to help me?"

Juice shook his head as he took off after her with a smile. He couldn't wait to marry that woman.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A completely fluffy chapter. I got all sappy listening to love songs, and I wanted Ana and Juice to have some time to themselves. Plus I needed to have a Juice proposal. Don't ask why, I just needed it.<strong>_

_**Next chapter we get back to Charming, and all the bs that comes with it.**_

_**And thanks to all the Tumblrites that gave me happy birthday wishes! Today (yesterday?) was my 24th birthday. It was great. I got an SOA shirt.**_


	22. Chapter 22

The vacation was over, and it was time to go back to the real world. Everyone caught Juice up on what had happened in the weekend they'd been gone. Frankie Diamonds had been found, and killed, much to Jax's anguish. While Frankie had said that Clay was behind the attacks, the rest of the club didn't get to hear him say it. That irked Juice's nerves, but it made him more secure in his decision to get Ana away, especially when he had heard that Frankie had shot Lyla in the leg.

As far as Clay's involvement in the Nomads, Juice didn't know what Jax's plan was. It was clear to Jax and Juice that he was behind it, they just couldn't prove it. Jax may have had a lead, though and Juice listened as Jax told him about Frankie's last words to him. Apparently, there were legal papers in the safe the nomads took that were given back to Clay, and now Clay had them hidden somewhere.

"I need those papers found, Juice," Jax said, aggravated. They were sitting at the bar in the newly opened Diosa Norte, watching the guys take in the sights. "Those papers get found, I can be rid of Clay for good."

"I don't know what to tell you," Juice replied. "Clay knows he's not on my nice list right now, so it's not like I can do anything. There's no one in this club that trusts him, and he doesn't trust anyone. All he wants is Gemma and his club back."

Jax groaned, knowing Juice was right. No one owed the club anything, no one had done the club wrong. There wasn't anyone who had anything to gain by taking down Clay.

"That fiancee of yours," Jax said, seemingly thinking out loud. "She's a master manipulator when she wants to be."

"Where are you getting at, Jax?" Juice asked, severely. "Because my pregnant fiancee means a lot to me, and you know that well."

The memory of Juice punching him in the face a few years ago was still fresh in Jax's mind, and he winced as he remembered.

"I'm just saying, to Clay, she's been pretty neutral. She could offer to go by and do his dishes and look around while he's out with us," he said, trying to reassure Juice while getting his point across.

Juice bit his upper lip as he pondered it. Ana hated Clay for what he'd done to Gemma. She hated him for planting a seed in Juice's mind that led to him cheating on her. She hid her hatred well, but it was there. While to an outsider, she would look like she wanted to do nothing with Clay's downfall, Juice and Jax knew that Ana would be more than willing to help bring that endgame closer.

"I'll ask her," he said, throwing back a shot and grinning as Chibs led a lady back to one of Nero's "comfort rooms". "This turned out well, didn't it?"

"That it did," Jax agreed, tapping his beer bottle to Juice's empty shot glass.

Juice thought about everything that had happened while he and Ana were at the beach. Tara was facing prison time now, with Otto killing a nurse with a crucifix that Tara provided. She didn't know what he was going to do, but that didn't matter. Everyone could tell her that the charges were bullshit, but Juice was smart and Tara was too. All the feds need was proof, and Tara being married to Jax and giving Otto the crucifix was more than enough to convict. All Otto had to do was confirm it, and he wasn't club-friendly these days.

However, that was Tara and Jax's business. Juice just needed to talk to Ana about getting Clay's papers. Once he did that, things for them would go back to normal, and they could focus on getting ready for their daughter.

* * *

><p>Ana and Tara were sipping tea outside and planning Ana's baby shower when Juice and Jax pulled in.<p>

"That's nice to see," Tara said, watching Juice and Jax walk up to them together. "They've gotten pretty close lately."

Ana had to agree. Ever since the break in at her house, Jax and Juice had become closer. His best friend was still Happy, sometimes Chibs too, but he'd found some renewed stability in his friendship with Jax. "

"Hey, babe," Jax said, leaning down and kissing Tara sweetly. Juice kissed the top of Ana's head and placed his hand on her belly, grinning when he felt Gia kick.

"Our daughter's active," he commented happily, sitting next to her. He sighed heavily. "We need to talk."

"About?" Ana asked, scratching off an overly pink mobile Tara had giddily selected.

Jax's phone rang before Juice could speak, and a look of revulsion came on his face as he listened to what was going on on the other line.

"Talk to her," Jax said, hanging up. "I'll take Tig, Hap, and Chibs with me."

"Everything alright, prez?" Juice asked, concerned.

"I don't know," Jax said, heading to the clubhouse. "But talk to her. Okay?"

* * *

><p>"You want me to do what?" Ana asked, sitting on the bed in his dorm room. Juice had just gotten done explaining what Jax wanted her to do.<p>

They wanted her to go to Clay's house, being nice as pie, and while he was gone, look for some papers to prove that he was behind the break ins. On the one hand, she was furious. She was pregnant, and she hated Clay just as much as Jax did, mainly for what he'd done to Gemma, Tara, and for ordering a break in at her own house. She'd done nothing to Clay, and he almost got her seriously hurt.

On the other hand, that was the reason why she was wanting to do it. Anything to get Clay the hell away from the people she'd grown to love, she would gladly do it.

"You're free to say no, babe," Juice said, sitting next to her and taking her hand as she thought it over. "It's not something you have to do."

"But it's something that needs to be done," Ana countered. "And someone needs to do it."

Juice nodded, still amazed at how well his fiancee just got it. He saw many emotions go across her face. Fear, anger, and finally, determination. She turned to him with a small smile.

"I'll do it," she said. "I'll offer to clean his place after I close up shop. Good will gesture."

Juice grinned and kissed her softly, and groaned when she pulled away.

"You be careful," he said as she got up. "And call me if you find something, okay?"

Ana just smiled and nodded as she left, leaving Juice in the room alone. He laid back and sighed, taking this rare opportunity to think about everything going on. Ana was getting close to the end of her pregnancy, and although he didn't know much about babies and pregnant women, he did know that the stress wasn't good for either of his girls.

Juice bit the inside of his jaw and decided right then and there that once Ana was done with this, he didn't want her doing anything else for the club until Gia was born. He'd decided a long time ago that no matter what, his family came first.

* * *

><p>Ana placed a hand on her stomach as Gia kicked softly inside. She had just pulled up to Clay's house, a cheery bouquet of flowers in the passenger seat waiting to be used as the perfect disguise. She was just an old friend visiting Clay and seeing how his new place was. That was all. There was nothing about her that screamed "I'm going to be searching your place while you're gone, you evil bastard".<p>

Ana got out and grabbed the flowers, smiling a little as she looked down the street and saw a lone motorcycle idling in the distance. Of course Juice would be closeby, he always was when he was worried about her. He obviously didn't want her knowing he was there so she didn't acknowledge it. She took a deep breath, smiled, and rang the doorbell.

"Ana," Clay said, in surprise as he opened the door. "I can actually say I was not expecting you. You doing alright?"

Ana gave a cheery nod.

"Can I come in?" she asked lightly. "I finished up early at the shop and I'm bored. Tara and Gemma are doing baby shower crap and I just needed to get away."

"Sure, sure, come in," Clay said, stepping back and letting her in. Ana stepped into his living room, and sighed, looking at all the half-packed boxes that were littering the place.

"Jesus, Clay, you still haven't finished?" she asked as he took the flowers from her.

"No," Clay said, sitting down with a heavy sigh. "Not many people feeling inclined to help me these days. Your Old Man doesn't care for me anymore, and I honestly didn't think that would happen."

Ana shook her head in what she hoped was a reassuring manner, even though she knew Clay wasn't lying.

"Juice still cares about you, it's just he's got so much on his mind. He's just trying to disasscociate from some things, and you just ended up being one of them," she said, trying not to lie but not telling the entire truth, either. "As for not having help, I can help you unpack the lighter stuff. I'll even call in Juice for some of the heavy lifting if I have to. You're still family, Clay."

"Well, thanks," Clay said, looking a bit uncomfortable. "I uh, actually appreciate that."

"It's no problem," Ana said. Clay's phone rang before he could answer her, and he left the room to take the call. It didn't take very long, and he was back in the room before a minute was even up.

"Sorry, I gotta get to TM. Gemma needs something," he said.

"You want me to get started here?" Ana asked. "Like I said, I'm kind of bored, I need something to do."

"Knock yourself out, kid," Clay said, already out the door. Ana dropped the smile as he left, and rolled her eyes. She got up and began unpacking the lighter stuff as she said, checking each box for the papers she somehow knew weren't even in there. Clay was smart, he wouldn't have left them in a box. They would have been the first thing he'd hidden. So, once she was sure he was gone, she began looking in any possible hiding place. In drawers, under couch cushions, in closets, under cabinets. She was coming up empty, and she was getting hot so she found the thermostat and turned on the AC so she could continue the search.

Walking down the hallway, she was meaning to head to the bathroom when she heard it. A rustling noise coming from above her. Slowly, she looked up and stared curiously at the air vent, listening for the rustle again. And sure enough, she heard it, and saw a piece of paper blow across the vent, resting writing side down on the vent. Ana squinted so she could read, and a victorious smile came across her face. She grabbed a broom and carefully pushed the paper back to where it couldn't be seen before calling Juice.

"Yeah?" he asked as he answered on the first ring.

"Call Jax. Tell him I've found them," Ana said, before doubling over as a wave of the most crippling pain came over her.

"Ana?" Juice asked, concerned.

"Get here, now," she panted before collapsing onto the floor, crying out as her stomach began to contract painfully.

_Something's wrong_, she thought, vaguely hearing the door being kicked open._ Something's wrong with Gia_.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Okay so it's obvious I'm losing my mojo for this story, I don't know why. I'll be wrapping this one up soon, and then I'll be starting the final story in the JuiceAna series, where things really get crazy, and most of the canon just goes out the window, since seasons 6 and 7 were just...ugh. **_

_**Sorry for the long wait, I really am. And I'm sorry this is short, but I have some of the next chapter written out, so I'll post that sometime today, hopefully.**_

_**Stay awesome, people.**_


	23. Chapter 23

"Drive this fucking car, Hap!" Juice yelled, holding Ana's head in his lap as Chibs was half turned in the passenger seat, trying his best to help.

"There's no fluid or blood," he said, trying to keep his voice level, although it was clear he was scared, too. Ana's screams were heartbreaking. She was in some serious pain, and Chibs was ninety percent sure it was preterm labor. Braxton Hicks contractions didn't make a woman scream like this. "Annie girl, we're almost there."

"Yeah, kid," Happy said, not even caring that the spedometer was pushing 110. One of his best friends was in trouble, and his other best friend was one scream away from going into a nervous breakdown.

Ten minutes and a phone call to Tara later, they were at St. Thomas, and Ana was instantly wheeled away, still crying out in pain. Juice went to go with her but was stopped by a nurse, who kindly but firmly told him he needed to stay where he was.

So he paced the hospital hall frantically, waiting for any news of Ana and Gia. He was kicking himself for leaving when Clay did. He hated himself for asking Ana to do this at all. Now she and their daughter were in trouble, and it was his fault. He wasn't ever going to get the sound of her screaming out of his mind, and if the baby was hurt, or even worse, he would never forgive himself.

"It's not your fault, Juicy," Chibs said, still shaking a little himself. Juice just shot him a pleading look that screamed I'm losing my mind so please let me lose it in peace. Chibs just shrugged, and went back to waiting himself. Happy was now leaning against the wall and glowering at the nurse's station, as if that would make the news come any faster.

An hour later, Tara walked out, sighing as she approached them.

"She was going into preterm labor," she said as they surrounded her. "We've stopped it, and we're keeping her overnight just to make sure it doesn't start again."

"Is she okay?" Juice asked desperately. "Is Gia okay, too?"

"Calm down, Juice," Tara said softly. "Both of your girls are okay. No lasting harm done. But whatever it is she was doing, it can't happen again. I'd say I'm putting her on bed rest, although I know I'm probably wasting my breath. So what I am going to say is no work, no sex, nothing too stressful."

"You got it," Chibs said, and Happy nodded grimly as Juice and Tara shared a look of agreement. Between the four of them, Ana would follow the doctor's orders.

* * *

><p>Ana groaned as she woke up, and then sat straight up as she remembered what had happened. Clay's house, the pain, her baby! Ana glanced down and sighed in relief when she saw her clearly defined baby bump and heard the washing machine-like sound of Gianna's heartbeat.<p>

She laid back on her pillows once she realized she was in the hospital, and was connected to a heart monitor herself, and it was currently making an annoying alarm sound.

"You're awake!" a nurse said cheerfully, coming in and turning off the sound. "You feeling okay? No pain?"

"No pain," Ana said, looking around confused. "What exactly happened?"

"Preterm labor," the nurse replied, taking Ana's vitals quickly. "It happens when the mother is overdoing it, or is stressed out. Sometimes it happens for no reason at all, but according to Dr. Knowles, that isn't the case with you."

Ana nodded guiltily, and the nurse shook her head with a smile.

"Hey, don't feel bad. Your munchkin is okay, we got the labor to stop, and your fiance is knocked out in the waiting room. He stayed in here last night until I kicked him out, poor thing. He's been so worried," she said brightly. "I can wake him up if you'd like."

Ana gave the nurse a small smile and a nod.

"Please?" she asked. The nurse left quickly, and Ana let out a heavy sigh.

She wasn't doing anything else for the clubs until Gia was born. Nothing was worth this happening again. Clay could get away with it all and she couldn't care less. She was done.

* * *

><p>Juice came in her room, a relieved smile on his face when he saw her awake and alert.<p>

"Hey, baby girl," he said softly, walking toward her and placing a soft kiss on her lips. Ana squeezed his hand tightly as he sat down in the chair he'd left the night before.

"I can't do that anymore," she said before he could say anythinf else. "I'm sorry, except I'm not sorry, because Gia's health is more important than revenge on Clay and if Jax Teller has a problem with that then he can-"

"Ana, stop," Juice said, placing a finger on her lips softly when he saw the heart monitor's warning light flash. He glanced back to her and started grinning when she stopped and glared at him. "I told you, no one's making you do anything. I'm glad you're not wanting to do it anymore. You're right, our daughter is more important. So calm down, okay?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, Ana shrugged in agreement, and glanced down as a huge thump sounded in the room.

"Our daughter just kicked her heart monitor," she said, changing the subject.

"She's telling you to calm down too," Juice said, teasingly as another kick sounded. He felt at peace as he saw her smiling again. He didn't want to tell her that what had happened was all for nothing. Clay had used their distraction as an excuse to move the papers, but that didn't matter. Bobby, not Jax, was going to be bringing him to the table, and Clay would be voted out. He'd come to the hospital the night before, asking Juice if he needed a proxy. Juice had declined, wanting to be at the table when this vote happened.

"Clay?" Ana asked, as if she could read his mind.

"Taking him to the table today," he replied, leaving out the rest. "I've got to be there soon."

"Alright," Ana said as Tara walked in. "Get going, I'll be home when you're done I think."

Juice kissed Ana goodbye, and, without a second glance, took off to get to the clubhouse. He was ready for this to be over.

* * *

><p>Juice was sitting in between Bobby and Phil, biting back the bile that rose in his throat as Clay went through his plans with the Nomads, and how he wanted power back. He didn't buy that "Jax wasn't ready to lead" shit. He knew it was more like Clay wasn't ready to leave. Frankie had suggested doing the home invasions, and Clay went with it.<p>

"What about Ana?" Chibs asked, noticing the look of hatred on Juice's face, and knowing he couldn't ask it himself. "Why put the hit on Ana and Juice's house?"

"Juice pissed Gogo off, and frankly, it rattled me a little, too," Clay said, looking at Juice, whose gaze didn't waver. "Gogo wanted him knocked back down to size. No one's really used to Juice speaking up like that."

"Frankie wanted to rape my old lady, Clay," Juice said. "And probably would have found her had I not gotten home when I did. Ana's done nothing to you."

"I apologize," Clay said. "For everything. I lost my head. I never meant for anyone to get hurt."

Juice just shook his head and reverted his eyes back to Jax, who, if possible, had more venom in his eyes than Juice did.

Tig shook his head as well, and Juice remembered what all he had lost because of Clay's lies.

"But they did," he said. "You and your lies hurt a lot of people."

There was a strained silence for a moment, before Clay sighed and got up.

"I'll be in the garage," he said, leaving the chapel. Juice let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as Jax finally spoke.

"We heard his story," Jax said wearily, looking at the table rather than the members around it. "Vote has to be unanimous. Does anyone else have anything they'd like to say?"

No one spoke. No one needed to. This vote had been a long time coming, and no one was going to ruin it by speaking up in Clay's defense. It was pointless to say sorry, since the only sorrow Clay probably felt was that he had to face the consequences of his actions. Had the outcome been different, everyone knew Clay would have done it all over again.

"All in favor of Clay losing his patch?" Jax asked, slowly and carefully.

Everyone was in favor, then Jax looked up.

"As far as the mayhem goes," he said, still in that dangerous, controlled tone. "Let's hear pros and cons."

This pause was different. It was one of pain and indecision, because no one, except Jax, really wanted Clay dead. Sure, he'd done some really fucked up things, and there was no question he deserved to die, but no one wanted to be the one to pull the trigger.

"He's a traitor," Chibs finally said. "I'm not buying his good for the club bullshit. He's done."

Juice nodded slowly in agreement, his heart a little heavy when he did. He was agreeing to send a man he once saw as a father to his death. In another lifetime, this probably would have been the hardest thing to do, but right now, all he saw was Ana cowering in a closet with her gun, ready to fight for her life because of something that Clay and Gogo ordered.

"Anyone else?" Jax asked, looking around. Juice looked around, and saw sadness on some faces, but no one else spoke up.

"All in favor of Clay Morrow meeting Mr. Mayhem," Jax said. "Aye."

Everyone gave their vote, and once Juice gave his yes vote, all eyes turned to Bobby, the one who had brought Clay to the table to begin with, expecting the yes vote from him as well.

"No," Bobby said, his voice thick with emotion. Juice looked at him in shock, as did the other members. What was Bobby's angle here? Why wasn't he voting Mayhem?

Jax just tightened his jaw and banged the gavel without a word.

"I'll go get him," Chibs said, standing up and leaving the room. The others just sat in shock as they watched Jax process what happened. Still quiet, the president rose from his chair, and followed Chibs out the door.

"Juicy," Tig said, pulling Juice from his thoughts. "Come on, we need to stop him."

Juice was confused. Stop him how? He wanted Clay dead, too, and in his opinion Clay deserved whatever Jax was about to do. Juice wouldn't even mind joining him. He, too, was angry that Bobby voted no. Clay ordered a hit on his house while Ana was home. His pregnant fiancee was almost hurt that night because of Clay. Once upon a time, Juice respected Clay but that night killed it all.

Still, he got up and followed Tig. Rules were rules, after all, and this club didn't need any more members turning on each other.

When they got outside, Jax had his hands wrapped around Clay's neck, Chibs trying to pry them away. Once he did, Jax began to slam his fist into Clay's face repeatedly, and Juice, Tig, and Chibs began to pull Jax away, all of them yelling for Jax to stop. They were finally able to separate the two, Juice and Chibs with Juice and Tig with Clay.

"It's done!" Chibs said as Jax caught his breath. Juice just shook his head at the president.

"It can't happen like this, brother," he said to Jax, catching his own breath. "Club doesn't need it."

Jax stormed off to his bike, and Juice shared a look with Chibs. He was expecting Jax's reaction, and he knew that Chibs was thinking the same thing he was.

Jax Teller was probably going to go rogue.

* * *

><p>Ana was in front of her easel again when she heard Juice pulling in. She looked out the window to see him get off his bike, with his shoulders slumped and head low. Ana got up and met him at the door as he came in the house.<p>

"You okay?" Juice asked, kissing her cheek as he shrugged off his kutte. "Pretty sure you're supposed to be on bed rest."

"I was about to ask the same question, babe," Ana replied, hanging his kutte on a hook and following him to the kitchen. "As for bed rest, I told Tara I'll agree to no work and no sex, but the rest of it could go to hell. I got stressed out too much once, and Gia didn't like it. Won't happen again."

Juice smirked a little, Ana reacting to the restrictions just as he'd expected her to. Still, he didn't speak for a minute, he just poured himself a glass of tea and drained the whole glass.

"Clay was voted out today," he finally said, turning to her and leaning back against the counter. "But Bobby voted not to kill him."

"Oh," Ana said, sitting down at the table, her shoulders slumping, obviously disappointed. Her hated for Clay had grown, being that she was at his house trying to get the papers before her episode. "I mean, Bobby's smart. Surely he's got a good reason?"

Juice took a seat by her and shrugged.

"These days, I don't know where everyone's minds are," he admitted. He glanced over at Ana and gave a small smile despite himself. It was days like this that he was glad he had her. This life would suck if he didn't.

He noticed her eyes looked far away, so he took her hand and squeezed it to get her attention.

"What are you thinking?"

Ana shook her head for a minute, looking over him sadly. He realized she was in the "scary place" as they both called wherever it was her depression sent her mind to, and he sat up, ready to hear what she had to say.

"We've changed, baby," she said. "That's all. I just want those two people we used to be back. You know, before you went to prison and before I left."

It was such a non issue for the given time that Juice couldn't help but smile. She was right, they had changed , but he didn't see that as a bad thing. He thought back to when they had first become friends. He didn't know if it was the night of Abel's party or the day she called him on his bullshit when that happened, but they were different people. She was softer in nature now, and he was a bit harder.

"Yeah, I miss them," Juice admitted, placing his hands on her stomach. "But you know, I don't think they would be able to handle this important job coming up. They were a couple of kids. I think we're better at that than they were."

Ana giggled a little as he placed a kiss on her stomach, her sadness disappearing as he did. Remembering everything that had happened that day, she still had some questions that needed to be answered.

"What happens now?" she asked as he sat back and put his hands behind his head.

"Clay's ink will be blacked out tonight. After that, I don't know, and I don't care," Juice said. "All I care about now, is making sure you and our daughter stay safe."

Ana smiled as he got up and pulled her to her feet. He kissed her tenderly and ran his hands through her hair.

"I can't wait to marry you, Analis Lewis," he said softly.

"Me either, Juan Ortiz," she replied, leaning into his shoulder with a sigh. She listened to his heartbeat as he stroked her hair, both of them lost in each other, not caring about the rest of the world for once.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Baby Gia is okay, and I'm actually going to have her being born sometime after the start in the next story. I'm obviously stretching the SOA timeline since everything was so compressed and confusing.<strong>_

_**I think the next chapter may be the last of this story before I start on the next (and final) one. There's going to be some canon things happening but for the most part I want Juice focused on his family. **_

_**Thank you to the reviewers, you guys are so sweet and honest and awesome. I know I say that all the time but it's true.**_

_**Till next time.**_


	24. Chapter 24

Ana woke up first for once, smiling up at Juice's sleeping face. All the stresses of the recent days had melted from his face, and he looked like the man she'd met almost four years ago. Ana glanced towards his arm and noticed a white bandage covering his forearm, something she didn't notice when he'd come home last night. Then she remembered he had left again to go to Clay's inking out, and she figured he probably cut his arm or something.

"You can ask about it," Juice grumbled, smiling a little as he watched her through half closed eyes.

"You cut your arm?" she asked, touching the bandage lightly. He laughed a little as he woke up for real, sitting up and bringing her closer to him.

"Nah, I realized you got my name on you, and I didn't have anything representing you on me," he said, unwrapping the bandage and showing her what was underneath it.

"Holy shit," Ana said in awe, looking at Juice's new tattoo.

It was two birds flying towards each other, a raven and a dove. It was close to a painting she had been working on a few weeks ago, and she smiled as she traced the black bird's wings lightly.

"It's like my painting," she said, looking up at him.

"It kind of is," he admitted. "I took a picture of it and printed it out at the club. After Hap was done with Clay, I asked if he could do it."

"It's beautiful," she said. "Thank you."

"No, baby," he said, kissing the top of her head softly. "Thank you. For everything."

He'd been struggling with some ideas in his head for the past few hours. Honestly, he was thinking about it since they'd gotten back from Denver. He was beginning to believe things weren't getting better, even if that wasn't Jax's fault. He just wasn't willing to put his family at risk for this club anymore. Juice loved the club but he loved Ana and Gia more, and he was going to be putting them first no matter what.

* * *

><p>Ana was watching a movie when she heard a car pull in. She got up and saw Gemma get out of her SUV, looking angry. Ana sighed, knowing this wasn't good at all. She pulled on Juice's hoodie over her tank top and met her at the door.<p>

"Heard we had a scare," Gemma said, coming in. "You and the munchkin okay?"

"We're fine, Gem," Ana said, sitting down and gesturing for Gemma to join her. "What's wrong?"

"Tara's thinking she's leaving," Gemma said, not wasting any time. "Thinks she's taking my boys and leaving."

Ana sighed. She knew this was all coming to a head. Everything that had happened, she couldn't fault Tara for wanting to leave. Having her hand smashed, her father in law trying to kill her, her husband being in constant danger, if there was anyone who needed to leave Charming, it was Tara.

"What's so wrong with her leaving, Gem?" Ana asked. When Gemma gave her a look of anger, Ana shrugged. "I mean, yeah, it would suck without her and the babies around, but it's not like they're going to Mexico. You'd be able to visit them."

"I just don't know, Ana," Gemma said, her anger fading to sadness. "I feel like I'm losing everything. My son still resents me, my daughter in law hates me, and now my grandsons are leaving."

"You still have this little one to look forward to," Ana said, trying to lift the woman's spirits. "And Tara can't leave yet, she's planning a baby shower for Christ's sake. One she's ecstatic for, I should add. It's not like she's leaving tomorrow."

Gemma shook her head but still smiled.

"You smart ass little shit," she said, nudging Ana's shoulder. "Leave it to you to try to be logical."

Ana laughed, glad to have avoided an argument with Gemma at the moment. Lately, her friend wasn't in the best of places, and Ana wasn't willing to argue with her if she could help it. She knew Tara was doing the right thing, and she was almost one hundred percent sure once Jax found out, he'd be on board as well. Like Ana said, Gemma could go visit. SHe hoped that she'd calmed Gemma down, because with everything else going on, a Gemma vs Tara war wasn't anything they needed right now.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Juice was working on cars for the day, Jax telling him he needed a break from things that were club related. The shit with Ana had scared Jax as well, even though he hid it, and Jax wanted Juice close to her just in case it happened again.<p>

"Just stay close," was all Jax said as he and Tig pulled out. Juice just shook his head and went back to work on the stubborn carburetor. The guys had been gone all morning, then came back with a half dead dog. Chibs had spent the better part of their return patching the poor girl up, and now the dog was playing with Happy in the clubhouse.

Juice thought about the club while he worked on the car. It was something he'd been doing a lot of lately. It was fun once to be a member, but now it was feeling more and more like an obligation. He used to look forward to putting the kutte on, but now he was beginning to dread it. It felt as if he'd had a target on his back, and Ana's too. He meant it when he promised her that she would always come first before the club, and now he was beginning to resent the club.

"Hey, Juicy," Chibs said in his typical brogue, dragging a stool over and sitting down.

"Hey Chibby. What's up?" Juice replied, looking back at him before focusing on the engine again.

"Not shit, brother. How's Annie?" he asked.

"She's fine. Not following the bed rest order. Says she'll go along with the no work and the no sex thing but that's it," Juice said, closing the hood and turning to face Chibs. "So I ask again, what's up?"

Chibs chuckled and pulled another stool over. Juice sat down, knowing he was in for another lecture.

"I see that look in your eyes again, Juan Carlos," Chibs said. "The same one you had when you were thinking of leaving. You thinking that again?"

Juice shrugged.

"I'm about to be a dad, Chibs," he said. "I mean, I got into this club looking for a family. I got one. But then I met a girl. A sexy, wonderful woman, who made me feel things. Who made me want to grow up, and I fell in love with that girl. She's having my baby, and the only thing I want is to keep them both safe. I don't think they're safe here."

Chibs was quiet for a moment. He looked at his feet, then at the ceiling, and then over at Juice.

"You were my prospect," Chibs said. "And I know better than anyone what that girl's been to you. You've grown up into this man we're all proud of, and I don't think anyone would think less of you if you walk away."

"Do you think about doing it? Walking away?" Juice asked. "With Kerrianne and Fiona in Ireland, I mean."

"Of course I do. I think about it at least once a day," Chibs said. "But we're different, brother. I think my girls are better off without me. Your little family is getting started, and I don't want you making my mistakes."

Juice smiled a little, knowing Chibs still had time to go home if he wanted to, but he wasn't about to say it out loud with Chibs being so understanding about his internal struggle.

"Thanks, Filip," Juice said, getting up as Phil hauled another car into the bay.

"Just know I've got your back no matter what you choose, Juan," Chibs said.

Juice waved Chibs away as he helped Phil get the truck in, and soon, he was back at work, concentrating on the engine, and not what was going on in the rest of his life.

* * *

><p>"Babe?" Ana heard Juice call from the front room. "Ana where are you?"<p>

"In here," she called from the second bedroom, smiling at her handiwork.

He hung up his kutte and headed to where her voice came from. It had been a long and trying day. Jax had indeed gone rogue, just as Juice had predicted. Damon Pope was killed, and Clay's gun was found at the scene. Juice didn't know how he pulled it off, but Jax was responsible for the murder. This was his way of getting Clay killed without it falling back on the club. It was a brilliant plan, but Juice was beginning to think that no matter what he said, Jax was starting to turn into the man he hated most.

Bobby stepped down as vice president, and now Chibs had that spot. Happy was Sgt. At Arms. Jax didn't ask Juice this time, because he knew the answer would be no.

And, to wrap the whole day up, Tara was arrested for conspiracy after all. It didn't make much sense, since Otto bit off his tongue...his way of not giving testimony in the case.

So the day was long, and stressful, and now all he wanted was to relax with his fiancee. He reached the room and walked in, shaking his head.

"You are not going to believe this- holy shit, Ana," Juice said, whatever he was about to say forgotten for the moment as he took in the room.

Ana had set up most of the nursery, and had done some painting as well. The room was mostly black and white, with splashes of pink here and there. The baby's name, Gianna Rose, was painted over the crib in black. The rocking chair had a teddy bear with a black and pink Harley Davidson shirt on sitting in it, and a photo of Juice and Ana was resting on the dresser.

But what caught Juice's attention was a hand painted tree that went up the wall next to the crib. He saw birds perched in the tree, all of them pointed towards the crib.

"V-Lin helped me," Ana explained. "There's a bird in there for you, me, Gemma, Tara, Jax, Chibs, Happy, Bobby, Tig, and Jenni."

"Gia's protectors, huh?" Juice asked, putting his arm around her shoulder. "It's great, baby. Really."

"Thanks," Ana said, leaning her head on his shoulder. "So how was your day?"

Juice sighed and sat on the floor, and gestured for Ana to sit in the rocking chair. She did, a confused look on her face. As soon as she was comfortable, Juice told her everything. How Clay had been arrested for the murder of Damon Pope. Bobby resigning as vice president. His talk with Chibs about leaving, and finally he told her about Tara being arrested.

"Otto?" Ana asked after he was done. "Did he-"

"No," Juice said, not telling her the gory details of that particular incident. "We don't know what happened, but she's been arrested."

"Damn," Ana said, looking at her feet as she held the teddy bear in her hands. She looked back at him, and a resolve came to her eyes.

"You're serious about leaving this time?" she asked, her tone a bit hopeful.

"Not the area," Juice admitted. "Just the club. I was thinking we could move to our place in Yosemite a few months after Gia's born. We could come back for visits. I'm sure they won't mind that."

Ana tried not to get her hopes up, but she could see it. Her teaching at one of the schools near Yosemite, Juice getting a job dealing with computers, them having a life where they don't have to fear cartels and rival MCs all the time. It would just be the three of them, and maybe a dog.

It wasn't a bad idea, and as her eyes met Juice, she nodded.

"Let's do it," she said.

Juice grinned and got up to kiss her. He felt her smile against his lips and he felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders.

He was getting his family out of this. Not right away, but it would be soon.

* * *

><p><em><strong>So this is it, the final chapter of FIOE. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't happy with the final chapters of this, which goes to show how disenchanted I got with the show. I DO plan on rewriting one day in the future.<strong>_

_** With that said, I am looking forward to the final story in this series which will very, very loosely follow canon. Gia will be born, Ana and Juice may get married, and Juice is going to struggle with his commitment to the club a lot. Some canon events will happen, others won't. And Mark will be coming back, too.**_

_**So I hope you guys read it when I begin to publish it. It will be called "Forever Yours, Faithfully".**_


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